Coltan and Congo: the implication of the private sector
Coltan is a rare metal ore used for the production of capacitors and other high-tech applications. It is mined in several countries in Africa, Asia and the U.S. and later refined by a small number of processing companies in Germany, the U.S., Kazakhstan and the Far East (see frame: coltan, the black gold). For the high-tech industry, coltan proves a key-source to manufacture their electrical components. As a result, consumers of this precious mineral include some of the largest mobile phone manufacturers such as Nokia, Motorola and Ericsson and computer industries such as Alcatel, Compaq, Dell and IBM.
Download in pdf or open with issuu reader.