But in context they need work to survive, I do believe China has built roads and schools in some of these countries and digging Cobalt is a lot safer than Uranium.
In context, a large proportion of what are referred to artisanal miners have no choice but to dig for cobalt as other economic opportunities are few and far between. While the Chinese may have funded the building of roads schools and hospitals the DRCs mineral wealth has been used as the personal fund for a collection of despots propped up over the years by governments looking to secure access to minerals needed to aid their development, China is just the latest and the population tend not to have benefitted from any of them.
Infrastructures such as schools and other basic services are under, or not funded by government. So schools and healthcare cost more than a family can afford, so children go to work in informal mines that provide materials to the formal supply chain with no effective monitoring in place to ensure ethical practice. Human trafficking by armed gangs are reported to be common place as is assault, abuse and death within 'artisanal mines'.
The DRC is possibly one of the most mineral rich places in the world yet the country has an official minimum wage of $3.50 per day, which is twice what most of those digging for cobalt in these mines make. They use basic tools and rebar often bare foot inhaling toxic dust and gasses from the mineral extraction processes. Chemicals pollute the soils and water supplies of those living and working near the mines making cultivating the land for food close to impossible. Female miners are paid less than male miners purely due to the fact they are female and it is estimated that the average life expectancy of an artisanal miner if between 45 to 50. For the majority of those mining the choice is to dig and eat, or don't and die.
Cobalt ore is often found in rock formations that contain uranium so unfortunately, it is likely no less dangerous
I would hazard a guess that the people who work in this environment do not do so because they would rather do it than work at the local Starbucks.
I cannot tell if you post is meant as a facetious quip to shine a light on the tragedy of the situation, or a serious statement. Either way, it was suggested earlier in the post that all this doesn't actually happen and it is propaganda espoused by people who don't like electric vehicles. To me, that is an ignorant statement and I wanted to make sure that is not information that goes unaddressed.
I would suggest anyone with any interest on the reality of the developed worlds obsession with renewable 'clean' energy and it's consequences for the people of the DRC read Cobalt Red by Siddharth Kara.
I do not suggest that as an argument for or against EVs or renewable energy, but as a human concerned about the plight of other human beings and feels there are parts of this story that conveniently do not get exposed to too much scrutiny for fear what the truth actually is.