Huge amounts of copper have been discovered following the collapse of a mountain at Inga Dam in Katanga, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Sunday morning, November 17, 2024.
The massive quantities of copper unearthed after the mountain collapse justified the region’s position as the major hub of natural resources in the world.
A video capturing the dramatic collapse of the mountain surfaced on various social media platforms, especially X, showing a large crowd present at the scene as the mountain collapsed, with people running for safety.
Several social media users reacted to the viral video, with some users hoping that the Western countries would not interfere with peace and security in the region in order to exploit the massive natural resources.
“But the West will not allow any African country to enjoy their natural resources freely. Now the United States will soon come in to promote human rights, including minority rights (LGBTQ),” one netizen said.
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The Katanga region of DR Congo is known for its rich mineral resources. It lies in the copper belt of Africa, a 450 km stretch that extends from northwest Luanshya, Zambia, to Katanga in Congo. The region has been known for large-scale copper mining for more than a century, making it the world’s largest copper-producing area.
Copper and cobalt resources are majorly extracted to recharge batteries as well as their production as the world moves towards clean energy. The rising demand for clean energy technologies has also raised the demand for metals such as copper and cobalt needed for lithium-ion batteries, used for electric vehicles.
However, the increased mining activities due to increased demand pose threats in the region, including insecurity posed by different militias who are involved in the illegal mining and human rights abuse such as forced evictions as companies seek to expand their industrial scale copper and cobalt mining projects in the mineral-rich areas.
