DR Congo to beef up security at uranium mine for WWII era bombs

The rush for cobalt, a mineral used in aircraft engines and lithium-ion batteries, has spurred illegal mining in the DR Congo

AFP/File | SAMIR TOUNSI

LUBUMBASHI – Authorities in DR Congo say they will beef up security against illegal mining at a pit that provided the uranium for the bombs dropped by the United States on Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Illicit miners have been entering the Shinkolobwe mine, in the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in search of cobalt and copper which fetch high prices, a local campaigner says.Uranium, in small quantities and locked in copper ore, can also be found in the Shinkolobwe mine, located 150 kilometres (95 miles) north of Lubumbashi.Owned by the state mining giant Gecamines, Shinkolobwe provided most of the uranium ore that was used to make the "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" bombs — and was officially closed in 1960.However, "surreptitious mining" has been […]

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