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Did you know that cell phones use a mineral called coltan that is mined from the mountains where Gorillas live?

You may not have even heard of coltan, but you have it in your cell phone as well as laptops, pagers and other electronic devices. It is important to everyday communication in the United States, but it is making the conflict in Congo more complicated.

One of the most important parts of a cell phone is a material called tantalum, also known as columbo-tantalite.

What Is Coltan?
Columbite-tantalite, coltan for short, is a dull metallic ore found in major quantities in the eastern areas of Congo. When refined, coltan becomes metallic tantalum, a heat-resistant powder that can hold a high electrical charge. These properties make it a vital element in creating capacitors, the electronic elements that control current flow inside miniature circuit boards. Tantalum capacitors are used in almost all cell phones, laptops, pagers and many other electronics such as Sony Playstations.

How Is Coltan Mined?
Coltan is mined in a similar way to how gold was mined in California during the 1800s. Men working together digging large craters in streambeds, scraping away dirt from the surface in order to get to the coltan underground. The workers then slosh water and mud around in large washtubs, allowing the coltan to settle to the bottom due to its heavy weight.

The need for water to separate out the coltan means, of course, that mining tends to be concentrated along streams and rivers. This exacerbates the erosion of soils and the risk of landslips during heavy rain, and tends to silt up pools downstream.

The coltan grit is bagged in small nylon bags sewn from larger food sacks. There are two rough measures - a desert spoon and "le gosse" (a small tin, originally a condensed milk brand, which has come to mean the tin itself; it holds about 200 g of coltan grit). When the bags are full they may weigh from 15 to 50 kg according to the strength of the carrier, and a spring balance is usually present at the site to weight them. The bags are sewn shut and transported on the back in a "makako" - a sort of basket-rucksack made from forest lianas.

Environmental Consequences
In order to mine for coltan, rebels have overrun Congo's national parks, clearing out large chunks of the area's lush forests. In addition, the poverty and starvation caused by the war have driven some miners and rebels to hunt the parks' endangered elephants and gorillas for food.



Tracing the Source
The path that coltan takes to get from Central Africa to the world market is saturated with corruption. Legitimate mining operations often are confused with illegal rebel operations, and vice versa, making it difficult to for the consumer to trace the origin.

To be safe, in recent months many electronics companies have publicly rejected the use of coltan from anywhere in Central Africa, instead relying on their main suppliers in Australia.

American-based Kemet, the world's largest maker of tantalum capacitors, has asked its suppliers to certify that their coltan ore does not come from Congo or bordering countries. But it may be a case of too little, too late. Much of the coltan illegally stolen from Congo is already in laptops, cell phones and electronics all over the world.

Letting such a sought after resource go into the landfills just can't happen.