The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), lying pretty much in the centre of Africa, is geographically the 11th biggest country in the world and is well-known for its mineral riches. In its most recent (2014) report “The Mineral Industry of Congo (Kinshasa)”, the US Geological Survey (USGS) noted that the country “played a globally significant role in the world’s production of cobalt, copper, diamonds, tantalum, and tin. In 2014, the country’s share of the world’s mined cobalt production amounted to 51%; tantalum, 17%; diamond, 13%; copper, 6%; refined cobalt, nearly 4%, and tin, 2%. … [It] accounted for about 47% of the world’s cobalt reserves.” It is also believed to have rich deposits of gold, potash and zinc.
