The metal is key to the global energy transition. But its artisanal market is broken
這種金屬是全球能源轉型的關鍵。不過，其手工市場遭壟斷。
At first glance the dust-caked men carrying sacks of rocks into a trading depot outside Kolwezi, in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), have little in common with the housewives in rich countries who hold parties to sell Avon creams.
乍看之下，將成袋岩石搬運進入，剛果民主共和國(DRC)東南部科盧韋齊市郊外，一間交易倉庫之滿身塵土的男人，與那些在舉行派對，以出售雅芳面霜(乳液)之富裕國家中的家庭主婦，鮮少有共同之處。
But in both cases, the more you flog, the better the bonuses. At the depot, under a ramshackle roof, handwritten posters state prices for the minerals in the ore. Industrious miners who hit production targets get bumper perks such as a bag of maize meal, a smartphone or television.
不過，在這兩種情況下，敲打越多，獎金越多。在倉庫中，搖搖欲墜的屋頂下，手寫的告示言明了，礦石中礦物的價格。達到生產目標的辛勤礦工們可獲得，諸如一袋玉米粉、一部智慧型手機或一台電視機等，豐厚額外福利。
The ultimate prize is the cobalt that will be extracted from the rock. For decades unloved, cobalt is now at the heart of the green economy. It is an essential component of batteries in phones, laptops and electric cars, which are now the biggest source of demand.
最終的貴重物是，將從此些岩石被提取的鈷。幾十年來無人問津，鈷現在是綠色經濟的核心。它是手機、筆記型電腦及電動汽車中，電池之重要組成部分，目前最大的需求來源。
The authors of an IMF paper published last year predicted that consumption of cobalt could increase six-fold by 2050 as the world tries to curb global warming. However, they also note that cobalt supply could be a bottleneck in the move to cleaner energy.
去年國際貨幣基金組織(IMF：International Monetary Fund)發表的一篇論文，撰文者們預測，隨著世界試圖遏制全球暖化，到2050年，鈷的消費量可能增加六倍。不過，他們也特別提及，在朝向較潔淨能源上，鈷的供應會是個瓶頸。
To understand why, consider Congo’s Copperbelt, from which 60-70% of the world’s cobalt is extracted (see map). Most of Congo’s cobalt is a by-product of large copper mines which cannot quickly increase their output and have little incentive to do so unless copper prices also rise.
為了瞭解原因，請細看剛果的銅帶。世界上60-70%的鈷，開採自那裡(見地圖)。剛果的鈷大部分是，無法迅速增加產量，且除非銅價也上漲，否則鮮少有動機增產之大規模銅礦的一種副產物。
The other big source of supply in Congo is so-called “artisanal” mining. Small-scale informal miners dig up about 15% of Congo’s cobalt. That is more than the entire output of Russia, the world’s second-largest producer (see chart).
於剛果，另一個重要供應來源，是所謂的“手工”開採。小規模的非正式礦工，挖掘出大約15%剛果的鈷。那多於世界第二大生產國，俄羅斯的全部產量(見圖表)。
Artisanal miners are critical to global supply chains. They hand-dig higher grade ores than those produced by large mechanised mines and can act as swing producers, opting to mine cobalt or copper depending on their relative prices. Yet Congo’s small miners face immense obstacles, which prevent them from producing as much as they could or reaping the rewards of the clean-energy revolution.
手工礦工對全球供應鏈至關重要。他們手挖的，比那些由大型機械化礦坑生產的更高級礦石，且能根據其相對價格，選擇開採鈷或銅，而充當搖擺的生產者。然而，剛果的小規模礦工們面臨了，阻礙他們盡可能多生產，或獲得潔淨能源革命之回報的巨大障礙。
Chief among these problems is that small mines are dangerous and polluting. International NGOs have reported on horrendous incidents of miners being killed when tunnels collapse or fires break out underground. Worse still, they found that children as young as seven were being sent out to dig for cobalt.
此些問題中，最主要的是，小規模礦坑危險且污染嚴重。諸多國際非政府組織(NGO：Non-Governmental Organization)曾報告，多起當隧道坍塌或地下發生火災時，奪走礦工性命的可怕事件。更糟糕的是，它們發現年僅7歲的兒童，被送出去挖鈷。
After an influential report in 2016 by Amnesty International on the human cost of artisanal mines, a number of large mobile-phone and car companies pledged to eliminate artisanal cobalt from the batteries they used and to improve safety in small mines. Six years on too little has changed.
在國際特赦組織，於2016年，發佈一份有關手工礦坑人力成本之有影響力的報告後，一些大規模的手機及汽車公司承諾，從它們使用的電池中，刪除手工開採的鈷，及改善小規模礦坑中的安全。六年過去了，太少已經改變。
Part of the reason why the lot of small-scale miners has not improved is because of the way they are pushed to the margins of the industry. In Congo artisanal mining is meant to be confined to dedicated sites. In practice, it is tacitly allowed on parts of the huge industrial mines in Kolwezi. Though some sites have been dug for decades, miners are vulnerable.
大量此些小規模礦工情況，沒有改善的部分原因，是他們被推向此行業邊緣的方式。在剛果，手工採礦意味著，被局限於特定地點。於實務上，在科盧韋齊市(位於剛果民主共和國東南部盧阿拉巴礦石豐富地區)的部分大型產業化礦業，這是被默許的。
In 2019 the army evicted 5,000-8,000 miners from the Tenke Fungurume Mine which is owned by China Molybdenum. Still, people returned to the mine, roughly 100km from Kolwezi, even in the face of violence.
於2019 年，軍隊從中國洛陽欒川鉬業公司擁有的Tenke Fungurume礦坑，驅逐了5-8千名礦工。然而，即使面對暴力，人們還是回到，該距離科盧韋齊市，大約1百公里的礦坑。
“Security is chasing us, beating us, breaking our basins,” says Generose Yandaya, who washes rocks to support her orphaned grandchildren. “I want them to go to school. The problem is there is no money and mining is the only job.”
洗石頭來養活其無父母之孫子們的Generose Yandaya宣稱：「安全問題正在追逐、打擊我們及破壞我們的盆地。我希望他們去上學。問題是沒有錢，而採礦是唯一的工作。」
Roughly 140,000-200,000 people in the Copperbelt work as artisanal miners. Most earn less than the equivalent of $10 per day, according to the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), an arm of the German government.
在此銅帶，大約14-20萬人從事手工採礦工人的工作。根據德國政府所屬機構，聯邦地球科學暨自然資源研究所(BGR：Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe)的數據，大多數人每天獲得不到10美元的等值物。
That is still a better wage than most get in a country where 73% earn less than $1.90 a day. Children work at an estimated 25-30% of mines, according to recent reports by BGR and the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries. Kitenge Mami, a teenager in Fungurume, says she goes to the quarry “because I don’t want to be a beggar”.
在一個73%人民，一天賺取不及1.9美元的國家。那仍然是，比大多數人獲得的較高工資。根據BGR及經濟合作暨發展組織(OECD：Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development，由全球37個市場經濟國家組成的政府間國際組織，主要是富裕國家因共同利害關係或共同目的，而聯合起來的國家集團)最近的報告，兒童在估計大約25-30%的礦坑工作。在Tenke Fungurume礦坑的一名青少年，Kitenge Mami表示，她去此採礦場，“因為不想成為乞丐”。
Mining powers the wider economy: the motorcycle-taxi drivers transporting three sack-laden miners at a time; coiffed ladies in dirty markets selling “I heart drc” sacks for collecting rocks; merchants selling football boots in lieu of safety shoes. One study suggests 60% of households in the region rely on artisanal mining for their livelihoods.
採礦為更廣泛的經濟提供動力：摩托車出租車司機，一次載送三名背負麻袋的礦工；在骯髒市場上出售，用於收集岩石的“我愛剛果民主共和國(I heart DRC)”麻袋之包覆頭巾的婦女；賣足球鞋代替安全鞋的商人。一項研究暗示，在該地區60%的家庭，為了生計，是仰賴手工採礦。
It is risky work. Pollution is rife; fathers with mining jobs are unusually likely to have children with birth defects. A law limiting pit depths to 30m is widely flouted. Deadly collapses are common.
這是有風險的工作。污染很普遍；從事採礦工作的父親，異常有可能生下，有先天缺陷的孩子。一條限制坑深30m的法律，普遍遭藐視。致命的倒塌很常見。
“There are no statistics but many, many are dying,” says Donat Kambola Lenge, a human-rights lawyer in Kolwezi. George Ngome, a pastor, says he presides over lots of funerals for miners without identity papers. “Those who come from other parts of the country, their families never know.”
於科盧韋齊市的人權律師，Donat Kambola Lenge宣稱：「無統計數據，不過很多、很多人正在死去。」George Ngome(一名牧師)表示，他為很多沒有身份文件的礦工，主持過葬禮。「那些來自該國其他地區的人，其家人永遠不知道。」
Some miners dig in ad hoc groups but by law they must belong to co-operatives. These can be genuinely collaborative ventures; often they are little more than labour gangs controlled by bigwigs.
有些礦工在特別的集團中挖掘，不過根據法律，它們必須屬於合作社。此些可能真的是合作企業，不過它們往往只是遭到大亨們控制的勞工集團。
A government registry of the bosses of co-operatives includes politicians, their families and senior officials in regulatory agencies, notes the OECD report. Earlier this year the provincial government named as its new mining minister the head of one of the largest co-operatives.
經濟合作暨發展組織的報告特別指出，合作社老闆的一本政府登記簿，包括政治客、他們的家人及監管機構的高級官員。今年(2022年)早些時候，省政府任命了，最大合作社之一的負責人，作為其新礦業部長。
By law the trading depots that buy ores must be owned by Congolese. But they are usually financed by foreigners, primarily Chinese. Every depot is colloquially known as La Maison Chinoise.
根據法律，購買礦石的交易倉庫，必須由剛果人所擁有。不過，它們通常由外國人所資助，主要是中國人。每一倉庫口語化地被通稱為La Maison Chinoise。
At one lackeys of a politician conflate your correspondent’s journalistic interest with the commercial sort and ask whether The Economist wants in on the business. “You can also exploit our ores,” an aide says.
在一名政客的跟班中，有位將所謂通訊記者的新聞業興趣，與此商業方式混為一談，並詢問《經濟學人》是否想知道此行業的內幕。一名助理宣稱：「你也可以開採我們的礦石。」
It is mostly miners who seem to be getting exploited. Some of them say that traders’ scales and spectrometers (used to measure the concentration of cobalt) are rigged. They bemoan their lack of market power, since Chinese buyers have purchasing sewn up.
似乎被剝削的主要是礦工。其中有些人表示，商人的磅秤及光譜儀(用於測量鈷濃度)遭操縱。他們因缺乏市場力量而嘆息，因為中國買家已經獨占購買。
They complain about a litany of unofficial “taxes” imposed by state agencies, chiefs, police and security guards, who can make $250 a night in bribes. In 90 of 116 depots studied by bgr, the intelligence services charge trucks to leave premises. “We have laws but there is no respect for the law,” says Mr Lenge. “Government is just corrupted.”
他們抱怨，由國家機構、酋長、警察及保安人員所徵收，一連串非官方的“稅收”，他們每晚能收取250美元的賄賂。在由德國聯邦地球科學暨自然資源研究所研究的116個倉庫中，有90個由情報部門向卡車收取離開生產場所的費用。Lenge先生宣稱：「我們有法律，但沒尊重法律。政府就是腐敗。」
Artisanal cobalt is trucked from trading depots to refineries where it may be blended with ore from big mines. “Despite the efforts of some companies to portray industrial (large-scale) mining and artisanal mining as completely distinct,” argues the Natural Resource Governance Institute, an NGO based in New York, “the boundaries between the two are permeable.”
手工鈷，由卡車從交易倉庫載運到，可能與來自大礦坑之礦石混合在一起的精煉廠。一個總部位於紐約的非政府組織(NGO：Non-Governmental Organization)，自然資源治理研究所辯稱：「儘管，有些公司努力將產業(大規模)採礦與手工採礦描繪成完全不同。不過，這兩者之間的界限，是可滲透(交融)的。」
The international firms that trade, refine and use cobalt have responded in three ways to the problems of artisanal mining. First, they have tried to understand what happens in their supply chains. Apple, for example, lists all of its cobalt refiners.
諸多貿易、精煉及使用鈷的國際公司，已經以三種方式，對手工採礦的問題作出反應。首先，它們已經試圖瞭解，在其供應鏈中，發生了什麼事。譬如，Apple公司列出其所有鈷精煉廠。
Many downstream firms use RCS Global, a consultancy, which has staff permanently stationed at ten artisanal mines in the Copperbelt, so as to audit what happens. Tesla and Volvo are rolling out systems based on blockchain to trace the origins of the cobalt they use.
諸多下游公司借助，有工作人員常駐於銅帶、10個手工礦坑的RCS Global公司(一家顧客公司)，以便查核發生什麼。Tesla及Volvo公司正在推出，以區塊鏈為基礎的系統，來追蹤它們使用的鈷來源。
The second has been to try to use less cobalt from Congo, especially the artisanal sort. BMW says it buys exclusively from Australia and Morocco. Elon Musk’s firm is also producing batteries that use much less cobalt (or none whatsoever).
第二，一直嘗試較少使用來自剛果的鈷，特別是手工類的鈷。巴伐利亞汽車公司(BMW：Bayerische Motoren Werke，也就是寶馬汽車公司)表示，它僅從澳大利亞及摩洛哥採購。伊隆•馬斯克的公司也在生產，使用較少很多之鈷(或完全不使用)的電池。
Huayou Cobalt, one of the largest refiners, said in 2020 that it would stop buying artisanal cobalt, though it is unclear whether that is still the case. (Huayou did not respond to requests for comment.)
在2020年，最大的精煉業者之一，中國華友鈷業公司表示，將停止購買手工鈷。不過，目前不清楚情況是否仍然如此。(華友對置評的要求，沒有作出回應。）
Third, firms are sponsoring initiatives to make life better for miners. The Fair Cobalt Alliance, which counts Glencore, Tesla and Google as members, is helping improve safety at an artisanal mine. It is renovating schools to give parents more reason to keep their kids away from pits.
第三，諸多公司正在贊助，改善礦工生活的倡議。成員包括全球最大的商品交易商嘉能可(Glencore)、特斯拉及谷歌的公平鈷聯盟，正在協助改善，於手工礦坑的安全。該聯盟正在翻新學校，來使父母有更多理由，讓他們的孩子遠離礦坑。
The Responsible Cobalt Initiative, an association of German car firms and industrial giants, wants to offer safety training.
負責任的鈷倡議(德國汽車公司與工業巨頭的一個協會)想提供安全訓練。
All of which is more than firms were doing a few years ago. But critics say it is not enough. “The current posture is the worst of all worlds,” argues Benjamin Katz of the oecd. “There is artisanal cobalt in supply chains, even if it is not acknowledged. And there is very little being done to improve conditions.”
所有這些比幾年前，諸多公司做得更多。不過，評論者們表示，這是不足的。經濟合作暨發展組織的Benjamin Katz辯稱：「目前情勢是全世界最糟糕的。即使沒有被承認，於供應鏈中，也有手工鈷。同時，有進行鮮少事情，來改善情況。」
A consultant to large firms adds: “You have a group of downstream businesses that get their annual auditor report, pretend to be virtuous, and go back to selling phones and cars.”
一位多家大公司的顧問補充說：「你們有一群，拿到了其年度稽核報告，假裝有德行，卻轉而銷售手機及汽車的下游企業。」
In 2019 the Congolese government proposed its own solution. Gécamines, the state miner, said its subsidiary, Entreprise Générale du Cobalt (EGC), would have a monopoly over the buying of artisanal cobalt. “We are going to eliminate child labour,” said Albert Yuma, then the boss of Gécamines. “Perhaps not today, but tomorrow, the Congo will be the equivalent of OPEC [for cobalt]..”
於2019 年，剛果政府提出了，自己的解決方案。國家礦業公司，Gécamines表示其子公司，Entreprise Générale du Cobalt (EGC)將會壟斷手工鈷的購買。Gécamines當時的老闆，Albert Yuma宣稱：「我們將刪除童工。[就鈷而言]···，也許不是今天，不過明天，剛果會是石油輸出國組織(OPEC：Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)的同等國家。」
As part of the proposal the ores bought by EGC would be exported on the global market by Trafigura, a commodities trader, which would pay to make mine sites safer and more productive.
作為提案的一部分，由Entreprise Générale du Cobalt購買的礦石，將由會為了使礦場更安全及更有生產力，而支付費用的商品貿易商，Trafigura出口到全球市場。
The scheme is loosely based on a pilot site that ran from 2018 to 2020 that Trafigura and PACT, an American ngo, say improved both conditions and productivity. Critics question whether the model can be scaled up.
該項計劃大致上以一處，從2018年營運到2020年，Trafigura及私人機構共同合作組織(PACT：Private Agencies Collaborating Together，屬美國的一個非政府組織)表示，改善了狀況及生產力的小規模試驗性場所為基礎。評論者質疑，此模式能否被相應擴大。
There are plenty of moral incentives to reform artisanal mines but not enough market ones. “There is a double standard,” argues Mickael Daudin of PACT. “The approach is: ‘We will help you but we don’t want to buy from you.’”
有很多道德激勵措施，來改革手工礦坑。不過，無足夠的市場。私人機構共同合作組織的Mickael Daudin辯稱：「有一種雙重標準。處理方法是：‘我們會幫助你，不過我們不想向你購買’。」
Firms, for their part, argue that Congo ought to clarify the legal status of artisanal sites and that rich-country governments should be clear about what amounts to a responsible standard for cobalt, as is the case with diamonds and “conflict minerals” such as tungsten and gold. Without these things Congo may, yet again, squander the chance to use its natural resources to improve the lot of its people.
就諸多公司的部分而言，它們辯稱，剛果應該澄清手工場所的法律地位，富裕國家的政府應該清楚，有關鈷，什麼是負責任的標準數量。像是與鑽石及諸如鎢與金等，“衝突礦物”的情況。沒有上述狀況，剛果可能會再次浪費掉，利用其自然資源，來改善其人民宿命的機會。
Back in Kolwezi, Pastor Ngembe watches a Christian channel on satellite tv. He is seeking inspiration for his sermon later. The topic this evening is that age-old question: “DRC is a rich country, so why are so many people poor?”
回到科盧韋齊市，Ngembe牧師，在衛星電視上，觀看一個基督教的頻道。他正在為其以後的佈道尋找靈感。今晚的話題是，那個古老的問題：“剛果民主共和國是一個得天獨厚的國家，為什麼這麼多貧窮的人？”
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網址：https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2022/07/05/how-the-world-depends-on-small-cobalt-miners?utm_content=article-link-4&etear=nl_today_4&utm_campaign=a.the-economist-today&utm_medium=email.internal-newsletter.np&utm_source=salesforce-marketing-cloud&utm_term=7/5/2022&utm_id=1225730
翻譯：許東榮
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