Gorillas begin killed to make your 3G phones
date: May 15, 2001 - source: Wildlife Conservation Society wcs.org, panda.org
You've heard that mobile phone may cause brain tumors, but do you know that the futuristic 3G mobile phones could also kill gorillas in the Congo?
Mountain gorillas as well as endangered elephants and antelopes are begin illegally hunted to feed miners searching for the tantalum (coltan), a key ingredient in the manufacturing of 3G mobile phones.
The future 3G phones will be small because of the use of certain metals, such as copper, nickel, palladium, gold and tantalum to help reduce the size of the phone.
But a basic component and key to their small size is tantalum. The silver-grey precious metal tantalum is mined largely in Australia and Central Africa. 80% of all known deposits are base in the Okapi Fanual Reserve in Congo.
The expensive and rare powder is used to build these capacitors that regulate voltage at high temperatures. But the only replacement to tantalum capacitors is ceramic capacitors- older versions of 2G mobile phones were make from them. However ceramic cannot yet be made small enough to fit the dimensions of the tiny 3G mobile phones.
Demand for this tiny but sophisticated component to build 3G phones has pushed the price of the precious metal around 600% in less than 3 years and are value somewhat as much as silver per gram. Mobile makers have already ordered a large amount reserve of the crucial tantalum in preparing for the mass production of the 3G phones in early 2001. Demand has already outstripping supplied.
Mobile Phone Productions vs. Gorilla Populations
As production of mobile phones increase, gorilla populations will decrease. 128% more coltan will be required to produce a single 3G phone than the current 2G phone. The danger to Africa's great gorillas is clear and present, and can be traced directly to mining practices
The race to mine tantalum for mobile phone giants has caused the amount of miners to swell to over 5000 in the Okapi Faunal Reserve. To sustain and make open spaces for camps- miners hunted gorillas, monkeys and other wildlife. Mining has been free-for-all, making it a virtually a goldmine with thousands digging in and around park while subsisting on bushmeat. Large animals like gorillas are usually butchered and eaten on the spot. Bushmeat hunting and the destruction of forest habitat in search of tantalum are the chief causes for the alarming decline.
Gorilla family slaughtered for bushmeat - mining tantalum in for 3G phones
Environmentalists wants buyers to ban tantalum mining from Congo parks.
3gnewsroom.com |
