Once you have read this book, you will NEVER EVER look at your cell phone, tablet, ANYTHING that is rechargeable ever again. There are many episodes in the history of the Congo that are bloodier than what is happening in the mining sector today, but none of these episodes ever involved so much suffering for so much profit linked so indispensably to the lives of billions of people around the world.

Cobalt Red is a riveting, eye-opening, terribly important book that sheds light on a vast ongoing catastrophe. There was not a single peaceful transfer of power in the Congo from 1960, when Patrice Lumumba was elected to be the nation’s first prime minister, until 2019, when Félix Tshisekedi was elected.Whats going on in the Congo is abhorrent conditions, child labor, under reporting of deaths from mining facilities and companies lying about where their cobalt comes from. The major cities of the DRC include the frenetic capital, Kinshasa, located near the southwestern edge of the country along the banks of the Congo River. Aside from this, the land of the Congo is destroyed by toxic runoff chemicals from mining operations. The Copper Belt is a metallogenic wonder that contains vast mineral riches, including 10 percent of the world’s copper and about half the world’s cobalt reserves. It is unavoidable, these devices are essential to our lives and are woven into the fabric of society.

It is also used in a wide array of emerging low-carbon innovations that are critical to the achievement of climate sustainability goals. Overall I feel this book itself is more 3 stars but I think the author deserves more credit for his efforts to document what really happens behind the scenes of mining in the age of the energy transition. The history of the Congo is one of exploitation since Europeans found a way into the interior of Africa. The author makes governments around the world who sign up to the Net Zero/Just Transition farce look like the con artists they really are. He tells the story of Congo and cobalt and all that has happened to the author in a straightforward, easy to listen to way and I am so grateful to have received this audiobook; it made an already very difficult read a teeny bit easier.Despite the many advancements in machinery and techniques, the formal mining industry relies heavily on the hard labor of artisanal miners to boost production at minimal expense.