Mobile phones and the production of coltan

International StudiesS1 Sustainable DevelopmentResource 2: Our rocks and minerals

Task 1

To think aboutResource The basic ( raw)

material, in this case, coltan, a mineral found in Africa, eg Congo.

Where is coltan found?Who mines the coltan?Who owns the mines?Who pays the miners?

Extraction Miners dig up the coltanIt is crushed and sorted to find the niobium and tantalum, and to get rid of the rocks that are not needed

How much of the material dug out of the ground is not used?What happens to it? How does this affect the environment?

Transport The coltan is loaded on to huge cargo ships called BULK CARRIERS

Who owns the ships?Who pays the crew?

Processing The coltan, plus many other materials from other parts of the world are used in the making of mobile phones

Which countries make mobile phones?Why?

Finished good(Output)

The mobile phones are packaged and delivered from the factories to the warehouses, and then to shops, where we buy them

How are they delivered?Who makes the packaging?What happens to the packaging once we buy our phone?How much is a mobile phone?Where does this money go?

Task 2

(a) How many mobile phones are sold each year?(b)Which country is the main producer of coltan?(c) How has the mining of coltan affected:

a. Farmersb. Animalsc. Natural habitat?

(d)How is coltan usually mined?(e) In groups discuss what action, if any, we can take: