Fellow Chinese corporate giant, Huayou Cobalt owns or has a stake in at least three copper-cobalt mines in DRC and is a key player at every step of the cobalt supply chain, from mines to refineries to battery precursor and cathode production.
“The Chinese treat Congolese very badly. They like to insult us. They like to raise their voices. Even for a small fault, you’re punished. The Chinese are there as the boss to control Congolese,” says a worker employed at Sicomines, a mine majority-owned by a Chinese consortium, which includes Huayou Cobalt.Photograph: Barcroft Media/Getty Images
“The issue is that many of the Chinese mining companies are refusing to be transparent about their operations, but the human rights issues related to cobalt mining in the DRC did not arrive with the Chinese: the DRC has a long history of foreign players coming to the country and exploiting their resources with little accountability,” says Mark Dummett, programme director at Amnesty International.
Chinese mining companies point to the contributions they make to DRC’s revenues and local communities, while working in a challenging environment.