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A database of artisanal, small-scale, and large-scale mining in the Copperbelt region of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia

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Publication Date

Citation

Boston, K.M., and Alessi, M.A., 2024, A database of artisanal, small-scale, and large-scale mining in the Copperbelt region of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9LWU4FT.

Summary

Cobalt, designated a critical mineral by the European Union and the United States, is a crucial component of the lithium-ion batteries found in cell phones, electric vehicles, and personal computing devices. Over half of the world’s cobalt supply is produced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where cobalt is mined in both large-scale and artisanal or small-scale operations. This dataset focuses on Africa’s mineral-rich Copperbelt region, an area mined for both copper and cobalt, that extends south across the DRC boundary into neighboring Zambia. Existing geoscientific data and remote sensing analysis were investigated to build a comprehensive dataset describing cobalt mining extent and technique (large- or artisanal/small-scale). [...]

Contacts

Point of Contact :
Pete G Chirico
Originator :
Kathleen M Boston, Marissa A Alessi
Metadata Contact :
Kathleen M Boston
Co-Investigator :
Sindhuja Sunder, Peter Chirico, Shavonte Brandon
Publisher :
U.S. Geological Survey
Distributor :
U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase
SDC Data Owner :
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
USGS Mission Area :
Core Science Systems

Attached Files

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Mining_Extent_Commodities_Final_reconciled_1.zip 4.43 MB application/zip

Purpose

To provide an updated dataset describing where and at what scale the critical mineral, cobalt, is being mined in the Copperbelt region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia. This dataset can be used to spatially illustrate where artisanal, small-scale, and large-scale mining is taking place throughout the region.

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Additional Information

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Type Scheme Key
DOI https://www.sciencebase.gov/vocab/category/item/identifier doi:10.5066/P9LWU4FT

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