A child and a woman break rocks extracted from a cobalt mine at a copper quarry and cobalt pit in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2016.
In June, dozens of illegal miners died when part of a copper mine collapsed in southeastern DR Congo. The mine was in the Kolwezi area operated by Kamoto Copper Company, a subsidiary of the Swiss giant Glencore. Faced with rising criticism, the mining industry says it wants to adopt standards of good governance.
Earlier this month, the World Gold Council issued “Responsible Gold Mining Principles”, although the guidance is non-binding. A spokesman for Barrick Gold, the world’s largest producer of the precious metal, told AFP that the group was already meeting or exceeding the new WGC guidance, while Glencore has laid out a similar charter to that provided by the World Gold Council.