A widow’s might
● HANDS UP WHO HAS HEARD OF coltan and knows what it is? Something to do with rare minerals, maybe mobile telephones? Coltan is an ore, known as “Black Gold”, from which is extracted tantalum — a vital component of the microchips used in smartphones, computers, cameras and much more. No tantalum, no modern world.
Our ease of communication, travel and access to information comes at a high price. Much of the world’s supply of coltan is mined in Congo, sometimes by children. Big Tech and the Congolese government, now showing on Amazon Prime, is anything to go by.
