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A Chinese “comptoir”, or counter, seated, calculates a payment as “creuseurs”, or diggers eagerly look on at Musompo, a mineral market outside Kolwezi on June 7, 2016. The cobalt dug up by the diggers is sold to Congo Dongfang International Mining(CDM). Cobalt is used in batteries for electronic cars and mobile phones and the DRC has roughly 65 percent of the world's supply. Workers and Congolese government officials claim that scales and metal analyzers are rigged and humidity content exaggerated in an effort to secure lower prices from diggers. Child labor, unsafe working conditions and contamination are all evident in the cobalt mining process. (Photo by Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)
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