Miner

From: Homelands Productions
Series: WORKING
Length: 07:51

Gregory Warner profiles a freelance miner in the lawless eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: Miner
From: Homelands Productions

Miner_small Your cell phone or your laptop wouldn’t work without a mineral called coltan. The Democratic Republic of Congo has about 80 percent of the world's coltan reserves, and that has spawned a corrupt and violent industry. Military factions vie for control of the mines, earning millions of dollars while the miners themselves barely scrape by. One of those miners is Fidele Musafiri, a small man with a hammer, a spike, and a dream of striking it rich. But the soldiers are never far away. Gregory Warner's profile is part of the WORKING series from Homelands Productions.

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Piece Description

Your cell phone or your laptop wouldn’t work without a mineral called coltan. The Democratic Republic of Congo has about 80 percent of the world's coltan reserves, and that has spawned a corrupt and violent industry. Military factions vie for control of the mines, earning millions of dollars while the miners themselves barely scrape by. One of those miners is Fidele Musafiri, a small man with a hammer, a spike, and a dream of striking it rich. But the soldiers are never far away. Gregory Warner's profile is part of the WORKING series from Homelands Productions.

Intro and Outro

INTRO:

Your cell phone or your laptop wouldn't work without a mineral called colombite tantalum - coltan for short. And the growing demand for it in the west has had ramifications in some pretty distant corners of the world. Reporter Gregory Warner visited the Democratic Republic of Congo, where about 80% of the world’s coltan is found. And where military factions are vying for control of an industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars while miners like Fidele Musafiri barely scrape by. The profile is part of the WORKING series from Homelands Productions.

OUTRO:

That was Gregory Warner reporting. WORKING is produced by Homelands Productions in collaboration with Marketplace Radio. To see pictures and hear audio, go to working.homelands.org. While you're there, you can also tell the world what you think about YOUR job.