August Newsbrief
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Unfortunately, third world countries are being harmed not only when electronics are improperly disposed
in their territory, but also in the manufacturing of certain devices.
According to an
article in Yahoo Games written by Ben Silverman and based on a report by Torrent Freedom, there is
a brutal conflict going on in Congo based on the demand for the rare metal coltan.
Coltan can be refined into a powder called tantalum which is used in a variety
of electronics including cell phones, computers and game consoles.
When the Playstation 2 was being launched, demand for the powder more than quadrupled its price from
$49/lb to $275/lb. At this price, the Rwandan military and western mining companies
moved into the Congolese hills where coltan is found in great quatnities to plunder
hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the metal.
In addition, they often forced prisoners-of-war and even children to work in the coltan mines.
While the large companies such as Sony have tried to swear off purchasing tantalum made from Congolese coltan,
it is doubtful that their supplies are not at least in part Congolese in origin.
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