Cobalt's Child Mines

76 PERCENT

Three-quarters of the world's cobalt comes from one country.

2 / 9

THE TWO KINGS

CMOC and Glencore take most of it. The rest is dug by hand.

3 / 9

THE CHILDREN

Some as young as seven. A dollar a day. The battery age keeps a ledger written in small hands.

4 / 9

THE SWITCH

Kinshasa is learning the switch — capping exports, naming its price.

5 / 9

THE BATTERY

Every electric car carries the Congo in its chassis.

6 / 9

THE LEDGER

The moral ledger of the battery age, counted in dollars and in children.

7 / 9

THE QUESTION

Clean energy — but clean for whom?

8 / 9