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Conflict Minerals

Contraband and socially disruptive minerals.
Conflict Diamonds
About one in every ten gem diamonds is smuggled from nations that feed money to a large black market.
The Coltan Scandal
High prices for tantalite create devastation in central Africa.
Conflict Mercury
This toxic metal can be diverted from legitimate uses into poisoning Third World lands.
Blood Oil: Politics & Power
An arresting article in Vanity Fair by Sebastian Junger about the illegal trade in Nigerian oil.
Conflict Petroleum
Global Witness documents the theft of oil wealth in Angola by elements of its government, leaving the people in deadly poverty.
Illegal uranium mining in Congo
In the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, thousands of miners are illegally working the Shinkolobwe mine in the southeastern province of Katanga. An article from Geotimes.

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