Congo's Small Miners Fill Hole Left by Downsizing Multinationals

His toes bursting out of sneakers several sizes too small, a miner hacks with a pick at the copper and cobalt-laced stone in southeastern Congo, slowly filling a sack that could earn him anywhere from a handful to a few hundred dollars. The 42-year-old father of five, who only gave his first name, Stany, has done this nearly every day for a decade, after he quit his maize fields for the comparatively lucrative mines of Africa's top copper producer. But unlike most artisanal mining,...

© La Voix de l'Amérique - lundi 18 juillet 2016