[SpicyLemonZest]

I’m not endorsing the original comment, but the mines that employ child labor aren’t generally big mechanized operations. They’re what are called “artisanal mines”: holes in the ground where people chip out rocks with hand tools. So you kinda can just pop one up.

[philipkglass]

You can't just set up a new artisanal cobalt mine wherever labor is cheapest because cobalt deposits don't exist everywhere. The DRC has the largest cobalt reserves in the world. Australia is in second place. Australia won't use child labor or artisanal mining if buyers have to switch to Australian cobalt from Congolese cobalt.

Global cobalt reserves by country:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/264930/global-cobalt-res...

[throwaway_tech]

Then perhaps the big tech and battery makers are even more culpable for this child exploitation...if its as easy as just digging a hole and chipping out rocks, they could be a little more selective in their suppliers.

[SpicyLemonZest]

I think you're misunderstanding the challenge. Big tech and battery makers don't buy ore straight out of the mine; as you say, they buy from suppliers, who are typically always willing to certify they don't use child labor. Of course that's often a lie. The question is how you, as a purchaser for Google or whatever, can actually catch the lie.

[throwaway_tech]

>Big tech and battery makers don't buy ore straight out of the mine; as you say, they buy from suppliers, who are typically always willing to certify they don't use child labor.

Again that points towards not just culpability (knowledge they are facilitating child exploitation and labor), but willing to go so far as to have their suppliers provide certifications they know are "often" fake.

>The question is how you, as a purchaser for Google or whatever, can actually catch the lie.

Plenty of other similar mining industries that exploited child labor have managed to put systems in place to minimize and weed out such practices. If De Beers diamond company can improve...certainly the big data tech companies can do better than requiring certs they know are often fake.

[SpicyLemonZest]

I don't agree with the premise. It's my understanding that the diamond industry is not any better than the cobalt industry about child labor.