The mine was a challenge to my preconceptions. In Kailo they mine
wolframite and casserite. Before the war the mines were operated by a
state run company, the defunct infrastructure can be glimpsed under
bushes and vines. The company still has a smart office in the centre
of the village, but instead of mining they take a percentage of the
proceeds of the artisan miners and the traders. Most of the workers
are from the area, although I met some from the province of Kasai.
Children were working with their parents, helping with panning for the
ore, carrying and selling goods to the workers. The mine is made up of
widely dispersed open pits. Most pits were 4 to 10 metres deep with
the occasional 25 metre pit. Next to the pits were the temporary huts
of the workers. There did not appear to be the squalor or disease that
we find in gold mines. Although there were maison de tolerance as
they are politely called here with the associated risks of sexual
diseases, AIDS and child prostitution.
As we left the mine we crossed two four wheel drive cars carrying men
from a British company interested in investing in the mine.
Andrea Woodhouse, CelestialTorrent, War Child UK, media@dbm, and 9 other people added this photo to their favorites.
invisible consequential 41 months ago | reply
Great shot. I paired this with an article that mentions conflict minerals. www.policyinnovations.org/ideas/briefings/data/000157
Schrift-Architekt 4 months ago | reply
Hi there, I'm working on an article about conflict minerals and would like to feature your image.
It's German and you can reach it in February via: blog.vireo-store.de/?p=2502
Vireo is a German-based company which sells ecological electronics and wants to educate its customers about many topic, i.e. conflict minerals.