Encyclopedia of Global Resources part 27 ppsx

cially regarding oil and gas production. The 1990 reauthorization established coastal nonpoint source pollution control plans and required the Environ- mental Protection Agency to establish uniform national guidelines for controlling nonpoint source pollution in coastal areas. The act was further amended in 1996, 1998, and 2004 to regulate aquaculture facilities and to research the effects of algal blooms and hypoxia. Jerry E. Green See also: Coastal engineering; Land management; Land-use planning; Land-use regulation and control; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Population growth. Cobalt Category: Mineral and other nonliving resources Where Found Cobalt is widely distributed in the Earth’s crust in many ores, but only a few are of commercial value; the most important of these are arsenides and sulfides. The world’s major sources are in the Democratic Re- public of the Congo, Australia, Canada, Zambia, Rus- sia, and Cuba. Primary Uses The largest use of cobalt is in superalloys, alloys de- signed to resist stress and corrosion at high tempera- tures. Other important uses are in magnetic alloys for motors, meters, and electronics and as a binder in cemented carbides and diamond tools. Technical Definition Cobalt (abbreviated Co), atomic number 27, belongs to Group VIII of the transition elements of the periodic table and resembles iron and nickel in many chemical and physical properties. It has one naturally occurring isotope, with an atomic weight of 58.194. Cobalt as a metal is lustrous and silvery with a bluish tinge. It has an allotropic form that is stable only above 417° Celsius. Its density is 8.90 grams per cubic centimeter; it has a melting point of 1,495° Celsius and a boiling point of 3,100° Celsius. Cobalt is known to exist in more than two hundred ores. These are in - variably associated withnickelandoften also with cop - per and lead. Cobalt is tougher, stronger, and harder than nickel and iron although less hard than iridium and rhodium. It is ferromagnetic at less than 1,000° Celsius. Likeothertransition elements, ithasmultiple oxidation states (II and III are most common), forms coordination complexes, and produces several color- ful compounds and solutions. Description, Distribution, and Forms Cobalt is about 29 parts per million of the Earth’s crust, making it the thirtieth element in order of abundance. It is less abundantthantheotherfirst-row transition elements except scandium. Other than the reserves of cobalt in Africa and Canada, there are smaller reserves in Australia and in Russia. In 2006, for example, the leading producers of cobalt ore were the Democratic Republic of the Congo (41 percent), Zambia (12 percent), Australia (11 percent), Canada (10 percent), Russia (8 percent), Cuba (6 percent), and China (3 percent). Total world production was about 67,500 metric tons. Studies have shown that land with a cobalt deficiency will cause ruminant animals to lose their appe- tite, lose weight, and finally die; the disease is essentially a vitamin B 12 deficiency. Vitamin B 12 is necessary in ruminants for metabolism. In other animals cobalt does not seem to be essential. However, humans do need vitamin B 12 , also called cyanocobalamine; in humans a B 12 deficiency causes megaloblastic anemia. Cobalt appears in many materials, including soils and water. There is evidence that minute quantities can be harmful to higher plant life. It can also be harmful to animals; for example, sheep are harmed if they consume more than 160 milligrams of cobalt per 45 kilograms of weight. There is no evidence that the normal human levelofexposure to cobaltisharmful. History Egyptian pottery from 2600 b.c.e., Iranian glass from 2250 b.c.e., and Egyptian and Babylonian blue glass from 1400b.c.e. owetheirblue color to cobalt.Appar- ently, however, the art of making blue glass from cobalt ores disappeared until the end of the fifteenth century, when Christoph Schiirer used cobalt ores to impart a deep blue color to glass. Cobalt ores were used not only to color glass but also as a blue paint for glassvesselsand on canvas.In1735,Swedish chem- ist Georg Brandt recognized the source of the color and is considered the discoverer of cobalt. In 1780, Torbern Olaf Bergmanshoweditto be anewelement. 230 • Cobalt Global Resources Although the name is close to the Greek cobalos, for mine, the word cobalt is thought to come from the German word Kobald, for goblin or evil spirit. Miners called certain ores kobald because they did not produce copperbutdid produce arseniccompoundsthat were harmful to those near the smelting process. Obtaining Cobalt Cobalt is usually produced as a by-product of copper, nickel, or lead, and the extraction method depends on the main product. In general, the ore is roasted to remove gangue material as slag and produce a mixture ofmetalsandoxides. The copper isremoved with sulfuric acid. The iron is precipitated with lime, and sodium hypochlorite precipitates the cobalt as a hy- droxide, which is reduced to metal by heating with charcoal. Uses of Cobalt In the United States, superalloys account for 45 percent ofcobaltuse.Other uses include magneticalloys, cemented carbides, catalysts, driers in paint, pig- ments, steel, welding materials, and other alloys. One isotope, cobalt 60, is important as a source of gamma rays. It is used in the medical field to treat ma- lignant growths. The steel alnico, which also contains aluminum andnickel,isused to make permanent magnets that are twenty-five times as strong as ordinary steel magnets. In the ceramics industry, cobalt is used as a pigment to produce a better white by counterbalancing the yellow tint caused by iron impurities. C. Alton Hassell Further Reading Greenwood, N. N., and A. Earnshaw. “Cobalt, Rhodium, and Iridium.” In Chemistry of the Elements. 2d ed.Boston:Butterworth-Heine- mann, 1997. Hampel, Clifford A., ed. The Encyclopedia of the Chemical Elements.NewYork:Reinhold,1968. Kim, James H., Herman J. Gibb, and Paul D. Howe. Cobalt and Inorganic Cobalt Compounds. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organi- zation, 2006. Leopold, Ellen. “The Rise of Radioactive Co- balt.” In Under the Radar: Cancer and the Cold War. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers Univer - sity Press, 2009. Mertz, Walter, ed. Trace Elements in Human and Animal Nutrition. 5th ed. 2 vols. Orlando, Fla.: Aca - demic Press, 1986-1987. Ochiai, Ei-ichiro. General Principles of Biochemistry of the Elements.Vol.7inBiochemistry of the Elements. New York: Plenum Press, 1987. Silva, J. J. R. Fraústo da, and R. J. P. Williams. “Nickel and Cobalt: Remnants of Life?” In The Biological Chemistry of the Elements: The Inorganic Chemistry of Life. 2ded.New York: OxfordUniversityPress, 2001. Syracuse Research Corporation. Toxicological Profile for Cobalt. Atlanta, Ga.: U.S. Dept. of Health and Hu- man Services, Public Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 2004. Weeks, Mary Elvira. Discovery of the Elements. 7th ed. New materialaddedbyHenryM.Leicester.Easton, Pa.: Journal of Chemical Education, 1968. Web Sites Natural Resources Canada Canadian Minerals Yearbook, Mineral and Metal Commodity Reviews http://www.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/mms-smm/busi- indu/cmy-amc/com-eng.htm Global Resources Cobalt • 231 Source: Mineral Commodity Summaries, 2009 Data from the U.S. Geological Survey, . U.S. Government Printing Office, 2009. Superalloys 46% Cemented carbides 8% Metallic applications 15% Chemical applications 31% U.S. End Uses of Cobalt U.S. Geological Survey Cobalt: Statistics and Information http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/ commodity/cobalt See also: Alloys; Canada; Ceramics; Congo, Demo- cratic Republic of the; Magneticmaterials;Metalsand metallurgy; Russia; Steel. Cogeneration Category: Energy resources Cogeneration is the productive use of waste heat from industrial processes or from electrical power generation. Heat from cogeneration may be used to produce electricity or in manufacturing. Definition Cogeneration refers to methods of producing electrical power from heat that would otherwise be wasted as well as to other ways of using waste heat produc- tively. Cogeneration results in energy savings and, particularly when it can be made economically feasi- ble enough to be applied widely, in the conservation of nonrenewable energy resources. A considerable amount of heat—and therefore energy—is wasted in the production of electrical power and in many manufacturing operations. Overview The generation of electricity from fossil fuels involves the use of heat to transform the chemical energy stored in the fuels into high-pressure, high-temperature steam. The steam drives turbogenerators, which in turn produce electricity. A waste product from this operation is low-temperature steam, which must be cooled by large amountsofwaterbeforeitcanberecy- cled back inliquidformtothe plant’s boiler. Onegoal of cogenerationisharnessing this low-pressuresteam. Water must undergo a phase change—that is, it must be heated enough to be turned from liquid to steam—in order to produce electricity. Producing steam is an energy-intensive process because of the physical natureofwater.Oncewater initsliquidphase reaches a temperature of 100° Celsius, its tempera - ture stabilizesandremains the samefortheamount of time it takes to turn the water to steam. The heat re - quired for this phase change is called latent heat. La - tent heat cannot be measured in the same way that sensible heat (heat that raises the temperature of a material) can be. Utilities have generally been unable to use this latent heat, and capturing this energy is a major point of cogeneration. Cogeneration can be achieved in two different cy- cles, the topping cycle and the bottoming cycle. Power utilities use only the topping cycle, which uses energy input to generate electricity and uses the waste heat for a practical purpose. A number of other industries use this cycle as well. The bottoming cycle, which ap- plies the energy input to process heat and uses the waste to produce electricity, is not as common. One example of its use is in the paper industry. Waste heat from the kraft chemical recovery process is captured in a series of water-filled tubes, and the resultant steam is used to generate electricity and process heat. Efficiencies can reach 85 percent at integrated pulp and paper mills, since exhaust steam from the power- house can help dry the paper. A modern mill can produce 75 percent or more of the electrical power and steam that it needs. There have been cases where paper mills have been able to supply electricity to local areasthathavelost powerbecauseofnatural disasters. The implementation of cogeneration depends on its economic feasibility. Some proposed projects are not put into operation because of the significant capital expenditures involved. Perhaps the most sensible approach involves cooperative agreements between users and producers of electricity. Substantial energy savings are possible. The European Union garners more than 10 percent of its total energy from cogeneration. Vincent M. D. Lopez See also: Electrical power; Energy economics; Steam and steam turbines. Commoner, Barry Category: People Born: May 28, 1917; Brooklyn, New York Commoner, a research biologist, has been referred to as “Dr.Ecology,” “the Paul Revere of ecology,” and an “el - der of America’s environmental movement.” 232 • Cogeneration Global Resources Biographical Background Barry Commoner grew up on the streets of Brooklyn with an unusual interest in and zeal for the outdoors. Fascinated by nature, he spent weekends exploring parks for specimens to study under the microscope. His interest in biology was spurred at James Madison High School and Columbia University. Following com- pletion of his bachelor’s degree he entered Harvard University and earned a doctoral degree in cellular physiology. He remained an academic scholar with the exception of a stint in the Navy during World War II and a year as associate editor of Science Illustrated in 1946. His teaching career started at Queens College, and he later returned there following thirty-four years at Washington University. He left Washington Univer- sity to enter politics as the presidential candidate of the Citizens Party in 1980. He headed the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems at Queens College until leaving the post in 2000. Into his tenth decade, he remained a revered voice in the field of ecology. Impact on Resource Use As a research scientist, Commoner contributed con- siderably to knowledge of viral function and to cellular research with implications for cancer diagnosis. As an environmental activist, he was vital in educating the public that in the Earth environment “everything is connected to everything else.” A prolific author, Commoner wrote numerous books about the environment, includingScienceand Survival(1966),Making Peace with the Planet(1992),andZeroingout Dioxin in the Great Lakes: Within Our Reach (1996). As an “eco-socialist,” Commoner rejected the environmental degradation caused by capitalism and ad- vocated ecological priorities over economic ones in a system of communal ownership. To this end, Com- moner has emphasized nature over technology, holding that the interconnectedness of nature and human- kind makes it impossible to escape the consequences of our treatment of the planet. In the second of his “Four Laws of Ecology,” Commoner states that“Every- thing must go somewhere. There is no ‘waste’ in nature and there is no ‘away’ to which things can be thrown.” Hence, resources must be used both sustainably and with full responsibility for the impact of their use on the system as a whole. Kenneth H. Brown See also: Biosphere; Conservation; Ecosystems; En - ergy politics; Environmental degradation, resource exploitation and;Environmentalethics;Environmen - tal movement; Renewable and nonrenewable resources; Sustainable development. Composting Categories: Environment, conservation, and resource management; plant and animal resources Composting is a way for gardeners and farmers to en- rich and otherwise improve the soil while reducing the flow of household waste to landfills. Essentially the slow natural decay of dead plants and animals, composting is a natural form of recycling in which living organisms decompose organic matter. Background The decay of dead plants and animals starts when microorganisms in the soil feed on dead matter, breaking it down into smaller compounds usable by plants. Collectively, the breakdown product is called humus, a dark brown, spongy, crumbly substance. Adding humus to soil increases its fertility. Compost may be de- fined in various ways. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it (as a noun) as a mixture of ingredients for fertilizing or enriching land, a prepared manure or mold; Webster’s New World Dictionary defines it (as a verb) as the making of compost and the treatment of soil with it. Compost and composting derive from the Old French composter, “to manure” or “to dung.” History The origins of human composting activities are bur- ied in prehistory. Early farmers undoubtedly discovered the benefits of compost, probably from animal manure deposited on or mixed with soil. In North America, American Indians and thenEuropeans used compost in their gardens. Public accounts of the use of stable manure in composting date back to the eigh- teenth century. Many New England farmers also found it economical to use fish in their compost heaps. While living in India from 1905 to 1934, British agronomist Sir Albert Howard developed today’s home composting methods. Howard found that the best compost pile consists of three parts plant matter to one part manure. He devised theIndore method of Global Resources Composting • 233 composting, alternating layers of plant debris, ma - nure, and soil to create a pile. Later, during the composting process, he turned the pile or mixed in earthworms. How Composting Works Composting is a natural form of recycling that takes from six monthstotwoyearsto complete. Bacteria are the most efficient decomposers of organic matter. Fungi and protozoans later join the process, followed by centipedes, millipedes, beetles, and earthworms. By manipulating the composition and environment of a compost pile, gardeners and farmers can reduce composting time to three to four months. Important factors to consider are the makeup ofthepile,thesur- face area, the volume, the moisture, the aeration, and the temperature of the compost pile. Yard waste such as fallen leaves, grass clippings, some weeds, and the remains of garden plants make excellent compost. Other good additions to a home compost pile include sawdust, wood ash, and kitchen scraps, including vegetable peelings, egg shells, and coffee grounds. Microorganisms digest organic matter faster when they have more surface area to work on. Gardeners can speed the composting process by chop- ping kitchen or garden waste with a shovel or running it through a shredding machine or lawn mower. The volume of the compost pile is important because a large compost pile insulates itself, holding in the heat of microbial activity. A properly made heap will reach temperaturesofabout60°Celsiusin four or five days. Then the pile will settle, a sign that is working properly. Piles 0.76 cubic meter or smaller cannot hold enough heat, while piles 3.5 cubic meters or larger do not allow enough air to reach the microbes in thecenterofthe pile. Theseportionsareimportant only if the goal is fast composting. Slower composting requires no exact proportions. Moisture and air are essential for life. Microbes function best when the compost heap has many air passages and is about as moist as a wrung-out sponge. Microorganisms living in thecompostpileusethe carbon and nitrogen contained in dead matter for food and energy. While breaking down the carbon and nitrogen molecules in dead plants and animals, they also release nutrients that higher organisms such as plants can use. The ratio of carbon to nitrogen found in kitchen and garden waste varies from 15 to 1 in food waste to 700 to 1 in wood. A carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of 30 to 1 is optimum for microbial decomposers. This balance can be achieved by mixing two parts grass clippings (carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, 19:1) and one part fallen leaves (carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, 60:1). This combina- tion is the backbone of most home composting systems. Modern Uses and Practice Composting remains an important practice. Yard and kitchen wastes use valuable space in our landfills. These materials compose about 20 to 30 percent of all household waste in the United States. Composting household waste reduces the volume of municipal solid waste and provides a nutrient-rich soil additive. Compost or organic matter added to soil improves 234 • Composting Global Resources A woman mixes her indoor composting box that contains worms that convert household waste intocompost.(Beth Balbierz/MCT/ Landov) soil structure, texture, aeration, and water retention. It improves plant growth by loosening heavy clay soils, allowing better root penetration. It improves the water-holding and nutrient-holding capacity of sandy soils and increases the essential nutrients of all soils. Mixing compost with soil also contributes to erosion control and proper soil pH balance. Some cities collect and compost leaves and other garden waste and then make it available to city resi- dents for little or no charge. Some cities also compost sewage sludge or human waste, which is high in nitrogen and makes a rich fertilizer. Properly composted sewage sludge that reaches an internal temperature of 60° Celsius contains no dangerous disease-causing organisms. One possible hazard, however, is that it may contain high levels of toxic heavy metals, including zinc, copper, nickel, and cadmium. The basic principles of composting used by home gardeners also are used by municipalities composting sewage sludge and garbage, by farmers composting animal and plant waste, and by some industries composting organic waste. Food and fiber industries, for example, compost waste products from canning, meat processing, dairy, and paper processing. Judith J. Bradshaw-Rouse Further Reading Bem, Robyn. Everyone’s Guide to Home Composting. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1978. Campbell, Stu. Let It Rot! The Gardener’s Guide to Com- posting. 3d ed. Pownal, Vt.: Storey Communica- tions, 1998. Jenkins, Joseph C. The Humanure Handbook: A Guide to Composting Human Manure. 3d ed. White River Junction, Vt.: Chelsea Green, 2005. Martin, Deborah L., and Grace Gershuny, eds. The Rodale Book of Composting. New, rev. ed. Emmaus, Pa.: Rodale Press, 1992. Simons, Margaret. Resurrection in a Bucket: The Rich and Fertile Story of Compost. Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Al- len & Unwin, 2004. Web Sites Cornell Waste Management Institute, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Cornell University Cornell Composting http://www.css.cornell.edu/compost/ Composting_Homepage.html U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Composting http://www.epa.gov/wastes/conserve/rrr/ composting/index.htm See also: Conservation; Erosion and erosion control; Incineration of wastes; Landfills; Recycling; Soil degradation; Soil management; Waste management and sewage disposal. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. See Superfund legislation and cleanup activities Concrete. See Cement and concrete Congo, Democratic Republic of the Categories: Countries; government and resources Beginning in the late nineteenth century, the Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo), then a Bel- gian colony,wasrecognized as a potentiallyrichsource for raw materials. By the time of Congolese independence in 1960, certain provincial regions, particularly the former colonial province of Katanga, had become the center for the mining and transport, by foreign companies, of a number of major mineral resources, including copper, cobalt, zinc, cadmium, ger- manium, tin, manganese, and coal. The Country The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is located in west-central Africa, with its westernmost limit running along the Atlantic coast. The country is separated from the Republic of the Congo by the Congo River. Its other neighbors are the Central Af- rican Republic, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, and Angola. Although not all areas of the country receive the massive amounts of rain - fall characteristic of the interior Congo basin zone, there is an extensive zone that is heavily forested. Global Resources Congo, Democratic Republic of the • 235 236 • Congo, Democratic Republic of the Global Resources Democratic Republic of the Congo: Resources at a Glance Official name: Democratic Republic of the Congo Government: Republic Capital city: Kinshasa Area: 905,420 mi 2 ; 2,344,858 km 2 Population (2009 est.): 68,692,542 Language: French Monetary unit: Congolese franc (CDF) Economic summary: GDP composition by sector (2000 est.): agriculture, 55%; industry, 11%; services, 34% Natural resources: cobalt, copper, niobium, tantalum, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, uranium, coal, hydropower, timber Land use (2005): arable land, 2.86%; permanent crops, 0.47%; other, 96.67% Industries: mining (diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt, coltan, zinc), mineral processing, consumer products (including textiles, footwear, cigarettes, processed foods and beverages), cement, commercial ship repair Agricultural products: coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber, tea, quinine, cassava (tapioca), palm oil, bananas, root crops, corn, fruit, wood products Exports (2007): $6.1 billion Commodities exported: diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt, wood products, crude oil, coffee Imports (2007) $5.2 billion Commodities imported: foodstuffs, mining and other machinery, transport equipment, fuels Labor force (2007 est.): 23.53 million Labor force by occupation (1991 est.): agriculture, 65%; industry, 16%; services, 19% Energy resources: Electricity production (2006 est.): 7.243 billion kWh Electricity consumption (2006 est.): 5.158 billion kWh Electricity exports (2006 est.): 1.799 billion kWh Electricity imports (2006 est.): 6 million kWh Natural gas production (2007 est.): 0 m 3 Natural gas consumption (2007 est.): 0 m 3 Natural gas exports and imports (2007 est.): 0 m 3 Natural gas proved reserves ( Jan. 2008 est.): 991.1 million m 3 Oil production (2007 est.): 22,160 bbl/day Oil imports (2006 est.): 8,220 bbl/day Oil proved reserves ( Jan. 2008 est.): 180 million bbl Source: Data from The World Factbook 2009. Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency, 2009. Notes: Data are the most recent tracked by the CIA. Values are given in U.S. dollars. Abbreviations: bbl/day = barrels per day; GDP = gross domestic product; km 2 = square kilometers; kWh = kilowatt-hours; m 3 = cubic meters; mi 2 = square miles. Current labor force occupational data are unavailable. Kinshasa Kenya Sudan Tanzania Angola Zambia Gabon Central African Republic Uganda Malawi Burundi Rwanda Cameroon Republic of the Congo Congo Democratic Republic of the Atlantic Ocean Traditionally the world-famous Congo River served as the main artery of access to the interior. Develop- ment of modern alternative modes of transport, especially railways, has been gradual and not altogether successful. The potential global impact of DRC mineral production has been reduced by the country’s chronic political instability, much of which has been concen- trated in mineral-rich areas of the country. Another problem affecting the global status of exports from the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the predom- inance of foreign investors (in the form of multina- tional concessionaires) in the mining sector. This seems to be less a problem of antiforeign sentiment than a result of “shifting” foreign involvement. Many foreign operations have been hampered by unstable conditions, while others have actually withdrawn en- tirely from development commitments signed with the government in Kinshasa, the country’s capital. Copper The large southern area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly the Shaba (1971-1997) or Katanga (1960-1971, 1997-2009) Province but in 2009 divided into four provinces—Haut-Katanga, Tangan- yika, Lualaba, and Haut-Lomami—is part of an enor- mous metallogenic zone running from Angola in West Africa to Zambia. The area is commonly called the “Copperbelt” of Africa, although other minerals, especially cobalt, are mined in the same area. It is estimated that 10 percent of the world’s copper reserves (approximately 50 million metric tons) are located within the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Before the year 2000, the country’s copper was mined pri- marily by the state-run firm Gécamines (Générale des Carrières et des Mines). About a decade after the country gained independence, Gécamines received world attention for therelatively lowcostofitscopper, but this advantage was lost in stages as various disruptive factors reversed the situation, making Congolese copper much more expensive on the world market. Copper production by Gécamines was still rela- tively high at the beginning of the twenty-first century (about 19,000 metric tons) but fell by about 1,000 metric tons, largely because of an inability to operate many existing mines at full capacity; some mines were completely inactive. A marked example of declining productivity was the Society for Congolese Industrial and Mining Development (Sodimco), a minor “coun - terpart” to Gécamines, whose output in 2001 was less than 550 metric tons of copper. Sodimco extracted the copper from the Musoshi and Kinsenda mines, whose copper reserves have been estimated to be more than 220 million metric tons. In an effort to obtain a more competitive globalpo- sition for DRC copper, the Kinshasha government concluded a partnership between Gécamines and the Finnish-run Outokumpu Mining Group to exploit both copperandcobaltreserves.Thetrendofseeking collaborative operations with foreign mining firms in- creased overthenext few years. In2002,AnvilMining, an Australian firm with operations in Canada, ob- tained a concession for operating the Dikulushi copper and silver mine in the traditional Katanga mining zone. Results were encouraging: Mining yielded almost 13,000 metric tons of copper in 2003, which was followed by announcement of plans to expand the Dikulushi mine. Another foreign concern, International Panorama Resources (IPR) of Canada, joined (at 51 percent participation) with Gécamines to use high-tech methods to reprocess copper- and cobalt-bearing tailings from mines located at Kambove and Kakanda. The initial level of IPR’s involvement, like that of other foreign companies concerned about declining public secu- rity in the areas of their concessions, was cut back despite signs that copper prices were returning to rea- sonably attractive levels. In fact, the 1999 price of $0.27 per kilogram of copper recovered to $1.70 by 2006. However, in the period between 2006 and 2009,thepricefluctuatedcon- siderably, and available stockpiles during the 2008 onset of the global financial and economic crisis sug- gested that decreasing demand would push prices down again, below $1.50 or even lower. Despite recurring technical, financial, and political difficulties in mining copper, the DRC continued to receive bids from foreign firms interested in either mining or processing the country’s copper deposits. In 2004, for example, the South African mining company Metorex agreed to mine and process ore (including cobalt) in the region near Lubumbashi (spe- cifically the Ruashi and Etoile mines). Specialized information services on the Web (such as MBendi Information) list specific ongoing mining projects and companies, both foreign and national, involved in the Congolese copper sector. The total of at least one dozen active firms and projects suggests that the DRC is dedicated to maintaining copper min - ing as a priority. Global Resources Congo, Democratic Republic of the • 237 Cobalt The DRC is oneoftensub-Saharancountriesin Africa with substantial reservesof cobalt (the DRC and Zam- bia are the most important). The cobalt is frequently found in veins bearing copper and, along with nickel, is separated out as a by-product of copper mining. The DRC’s location across the central African Copperbelt means that the country has a substantial share, almost 35 percent, of the world’s cobalt. In modern times the metallic element colbalt (Co) is used to make strong alloys and is essential as a radio- isotope (Cobalt 60) in producing gamma rays. Specialized importers’ demand, therefore, is rela- tively high. Although government-run Gécamines suf- fered cobalt production setbacks, because of under- utilization of partially exploited mining locations, in the years after 2000, the company continued to enter into joint exploitation contracts with foreign firms interested in particularly promising special projects. Perhaps the most outstanding of these projects was the 2004 acquisition, by the London-based Adastra Minerals, of full rights to process massive tailings sites at the Kolwezi location. This ambitious project set as its aim reclaiming major amounts of both copper (more than 40,000 metric tons annually) and cobalt (more than 6,000 metric tons annually) from more than 100 million metric tons of oxide tailings at Kolwezi. Petroleum and Natural Gas The limited (22-kilometer) stretch of the DRC’s At- lantic coast (running between northern Angola and the oil-rich enclave of Cabinda) was the scene of oil exploration activities as early as the 1960’s, but production was not significant until offshore wells in the same region began production in 1976. The Mibale offshore field, eventually estimated to hold almost 50 percent of the coastal basin’s reserves, was discovered in 1973 by Chevron. More than forty wells had been drilled, most offshore, by the mid-1980’s, yielding five working oil fields and one natural gas field. Exploration of inland areas, especially along the eastern border of the DRC and in the central Congo basin, produced less promising results. Some hope for exploitation of proven reserves in the region bor- dering Uganda was registered, but not effectively pursued. Natural gas reserves in regions close to the Rwanda border await efficient exploitation. In the case of natural gas, not only infrastructural problems, such as the remoteness of the region and lack of ef - fective transport, but also recurrent political instabil - ity and regional violence have continued to hamper follow-up to exploratory soundings. As for the DRC’s more promising offshore petroleum sector, a series of arrangements and rearrange- ments of foreign oil companies’ involvement in consortium agreements with the Kinshasha government have been made. The most important consortium ar- rangement involved participation at 50 percent hold- ings by Congo Gulf Oil (Chevron), 32 percent by Congo Petroleum Company (Teikoku Oil of Japan), and 18 percent by Union Oil of California. Gold Mining for gold in the area around Namoya (some 250 kilometers from Bukavu, on the edge of forested areas leading eastward to the Rwandan and Ugandan borders), first by alluvial methods in the 1930’s, and then by open-pit mining in the 1950’s, was interrupted during the early years of Congolese independence. Although productionwasrestoredgradually,periodic outbreaks of civil violence in key ore-producing sub- zones (Namoya, Twangiza, Kamituga, and Lugushwa) have hampered efforts to effectively exploit gold mining in the northeastern provincial region. Anti- government rebel forces occupied, abandoned, then reoccupied the key population centers during the entire first decade after 2000. These disruptive conditions have not prevented key foreign mining concerns from seeking contrac- tual agreements for concessions from the Kinshasha government. Diamonds Although theDRC,andspecifically the Kasai-Oriental Province, is potentially the largest producer of diamonds in Africa, it has fallen far short of fulfilling this potential. Despite the existence of a formal commercial diamond concession, Minière de Bakwanga (MIBA)—a joint operation involving the Belgian company Sibeka and the government of the DRC— only about a third of the country’s diamonds are exported by MIBA. Knowing the origin and channels pursued bymany“informal”dealersto commercialize the majority of diamonds mined in the DRC is nearly impossible. A major cause for this comes, again, from extremely unsettled political conditions and recurring outbreaks of violence. Conditions of disorder lend themselves to the possibility of illicit dealings in the diamond market. Fear of involvement in criminal 238 • Congo, Democratic Republic of the Global Resources diamond dealings (known in West and central Africa as the “blood diamond” trade) caused the major South African diamond importer Kimberley Process to blacklist the DRC in 2004. This stopped officially recognized export processes but did not stop “pri- vate” intermediaries from conducting smuggling operations. Some estimates of the Congolese government’s losses because of diamond smuggling have been as high as a one-half billion dollars annually. In the same year that Kimberley denounced diamond operations in the DRC, De Beers arranged a confidentiality-covered diamond concession agree- ment, committing more than $200 million to conduct much needed improvements. Manganese The DRC produced upwards of 45,000 metric tons of manganese ore annually in the early 1970’s, most of which was transported by rail from the Lulua basin to export facilities at Benguela on the Angolan coast. The principal, if not the only, firm involved in these operations, the Kisenge Manganese Mining Enter- prise, experienced dramatic declines in exports (down to a little more than 27,000 metric tons in the late 1980’s) during the long period of civil war in An- gola. In 1993, production came to a de facto end. Kisenge, in its efforts to regain a section of the manganese market by introducing high-tech dry-cell modes to process high-grade electrolytic manganese diox- ide, has encountered difficulty, given the fact that several of its African neighbors also produce manganese at attractive prices. Tantalum and Niobium The DRC possesses a number of coltan (tantalum- ore) producing mines in the Lake Kivu region. The primary mining operation there is Anvil Mining (with home offices in Australia andCanada),afirmwhichis heavily involved in DRC copper mining. Tantalum, along with a similar metal always found alongside tantalum, is a highly corrosion-resistant element used widely as a component in metal alloy processes. Al- though tantalum could be an increasingly significant DRC export, two factors may limit such development (beyond the fact that Australia produces most of the tantalum for the world market): Almost all the central African neighbors of the DRC—including Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Gabon—also pro - duce tantalaum for export; and, after Anvil Mining launched its major mining operations in the first few years of the twenty-first century, controversy over the ecological impact such mining might have, both for surrounding forests and for animal life in the region, has come to the forefront. Other Resources Given the extensive forested area of the Congo River basin, the DRC is in a position to export a variety of rare hardwoods and some industrially attractive common lumber. This sector has yet to develop to its full potential because of the lucrative, if risky, mineral industry. Byron D. Cannon Further Reading Nest, Michael Wallace, François Grignon, and Emizet F. Kisangani. The Democratic Republic of Congo: Eco- nomic Dimensions of War and Peace. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Reinner, 2006. Renner, Michael, and Thomas Prugh. The Anatomy of Resource Wars. Washington, D.C.: Worldwatch Insti- tute, 2002. Renton, Dave, David Seddon, and Leo Zellig. The Congo: Plunder and Resistance. New York: Zed Books, 2007. Wolfire, Deanna, Jake Brunner, and Nigel Sizer. For- ests and the Democratic Republic of Congo: Opportunity in a Time of Crisis. Washington, D.C.: World Re- sources Institute, 1998. See also: Belgium; Cobalt; Copper; Diamond; Gold; Oil and natural gas distribution. Conservation Category: Environment, conservation, and resource management Humanity’s footprint is being felt around the world. As the globalpopulationcontinuesto increase, the natural resources necessary to sustain life continue to decline. Fresh water, fossil fuels, and arable land are just a few of the natural resources that must be properly managed to sustain a global population that may reach 9.1 billion by the year 2050, as predicted by the United Nations. Global Resources Conservation • 239 . the best compost pile consists of three parts plant matter to one part manure. He devised theIndore method of Global Resources Composting • 233 composting, alternating layers of plant debris, ma - nure,. • 235 236 • Congo, Democratic Republic of the Global Resources Democratic Republic of the Congo: Resources at a Glance Official name: Democratic Republic of the Congo Government: Republic Capital. of which has been concen- trated in mineral-rich areas of the country. Another problem affecting the global status of exports from the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the predom- inance of