Challenges of Mining Essential Minerals for Electric Cars

The mining of essential minerals for electric cars presents numerous challenges. Cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where 60-70% of the world's cobalt is sourced, involves both industrial and small-scale informal mining. The conditions in these mines are dire, with children as young as four working in dangerous and appalling conditions. Industrial mines have also been likened to modern-day slavery, with workers being exploited, facing racism and violence, and earning as little as $2.50 a day, trapping them in poverty. Nickel mining in Indonesia has led to environmental devastation, with contaminated soil, destroyed land and crops, and polluted air. The push for more nickel due to the rising demand for electric cars could lead to further environmental degradation and threats to ocean ecosystems, such as deep-sea mining, which communities in the Pacific are protesting against over concerns of unknown impacts on marine life.