How Gold Pays For Congo's Deadly War

(CBS)  The price of gold set another all-time record this past week. There's demand for gold for investments, for circuits in cell phones and computers, and, in this holiday season, for jewelry. But there's another price being paid for gold that you probably haven't heard about.

Gold and other minerals are funding the deadliest war since World War II. More than five million people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Years ago, the jewelry industry banned the trafficking in so-called blood diamonds, but the same hasn't happened with gold.

In the heart of central Africa, "60 Minutes" found a campaign of rape and murder being funded largely by gold that is exported to the world.

Photo Essay: Congo's Gold
Web Extra: Uranium for Sale
Web Extra: A Blind Eye
Web Extra: Greed and Chaos
International Rescue Committee: Congo Crisis
Human Rights Watch
The Enough Project: Conflict Minerals
No Dirty Gold Campaign
Responsible Jewellery Council

Correspondent Scott Pelley visited a gold mine in eastern Congo, dug from the side of a mountain by the bare hands and stooped backs of a hundred men. They've lifted tons of dirt one pan at a time, building terraces as they descend. The hunger for gold drives men into the earth so that other men can kill.

Joining Pelley was Anneke Van Woudenberg, who has spent ten years in Congo. She investigated the mines for Human Rights Watch and wrote one of the most respected studies on the trade.

"You know, this is a little bit dangerous business…especially for those guys," Pelley remarked, as they maneuvered along one of the narrow mud terraces of the gold mine.

"It's particularly for those guys," she replied. "And there are regular mudslides, rock falls. You know, the death rate is extraordinarily high in these mines."

Asked what life is like for Congolese miners, Van Woudenberg said, "You make maybe if you're lucky a dollar or two a day. You have no health care, no social insurance, you have nothing. People do this because they hope to become rich, but very few do."

The people are destitute. But Congo is the Saudi Arabia of minerals. In addition to gold, the earth is loaded with metals such as tin, copper, and something called coltan that is essential to the circuits in computers and cell phones.

Our journey started beside Lake Kivu in the teeming city of Bukavu. Eastern Congo is spectacular, remote and lawless.

To get to the gold fields, we traveled through territory controlled by one militia, then another. We found a gold mine on the Mwana River in the province of South Kivu. The first thing you notice are the children. Families set them to work early and for many it's the only life they'll know.

Their method for mining is at least 2,000 years old. They lay blankets in the riverbed and let the sediment collect in the fibers. The blankets are wrung out and somewhere in all that mud is treasure.

They mix mercury into the sediment, which chemically binds the gold together. Then they simply burn the mercury away. No one worries too much about the toxic fumes; the neurological damage from mercury may not show up for years.

Pelley watched as a mercury burner produced a tiny piece of gold, worth perhaps $5.

The gold is one of the factors driving what is now the deadliest war on Earth.

In 1996, Uganda and Rwanda invaded Congo. Seven more countries joined in and started stealing Congo's resources. The invasion ended, but ever since, rebel militias and government forces have fought over local power, ethnic hatred and control of the minerals.

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[CONGOGOLD]

Since this programme was done i have come across a European run company that is trying to make positive changes in the DRC gold mining Industry for the better.
They have not got the African mentality and need more exposure from the media to help them suceed with helping their hard task.

Their website is:
www.congogold.com

They can be viewed on youtube.com by typing in congogold into the search bar.

and I am very glad that katie couric did not report on this subject. if CBS had any brains they would ditch this loser. The other reporters, even on their worst day, can do a better job than her. i hope CBS will wake up sometime soon.

How else are these people going to earn a living? I mean it looks like back breaking work and it probably is but when there are no other options in life...then what? It's up to Africans to improve their lot..not a bunch of bleeding-heart north americans.

[bubbadubba]

"How oil pays for Islams terrorist wars"
No, can't do that headline because the oil companies pay big bucks to CBS for commercials.
As for you people taking up for the oil companies, we know you can't help what you are.

[bubbadubba]

But it is OK for Americans to buy oil that has been the reason for the destruction of many countries, wars, occupations, invasions, and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.
But wait, the oil companies run a lot of expensive commericals on CBS so we can't go there.
Sorry.

[lovenpeace1]

Folks,

I am sure American's Defenders of the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution must be profiting big time here by selling their hand guns and rifles to Militants and Terrorists around the world.

[NoDirtyGold]

Thank you 60 Minutes for this important investigation into Blood Gold. I am also glad that you were able to clarify that the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) will not provide traceable gold certification. Jewelers must be able to demonstrate that their gold is not dirty, and that customers' jewelry is not coming at the expense of the human rights violations, conflict, lost livelihoods, poisoned waters, and destroyed forests so often caused by small and large-scale mining for gold. The No Dirty Gold campaign (www.nodirtygold.org) of EARTHWORKS has been asking jewelers to clean up the industry and identify their mine sources for over five years. If you are concerned about dirty gold, you can sign the No Dirty Gold pledge on the website.

EARTHWORKS has also been an organizing member of the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA, www.responsiblemining.net), a certification effort that includes civil society representatives, jewelry companies, and mining companies. Unlike the RJC system, IRMA is seeking to provide third party certification and traceability of gold and other minerals.

[rikraff]

As a ten year employee in the jewelry industry, I must say that this issue may be overlooked (at least in my circle of colleagues). With all of the fuss made about "blood diamonds," which may or may not have died down considerably, as consumers and professionals we really need to examine all of the jewelry-related issues that affect other parts of the world and humanity in general. There is a lot of buzz about "green" or recycled gold. Hopefully this will raise concern about the source of gold being purchased. It will also be interesting to see how the people that mine platinum and palladium position their metals against this story and issues.

[shurdul]

Thanks for sharing dear buddy.
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[sonofsummarex]

Why don't you guys worry about human rights in America instead. We have a declining standard of living, more and more surveillance, increasingly brutal law enforcement and an administration that has done next to nothing to make things better. Quality of life is going down the toilet and you people are worried about the Congo.

[MPHgrad]

Because in the words of Dr. King..."Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere". Moreover, our consumption based society fuels these atrocities in the Congo and in other places in the world. We want more for less and it is upon the backs of the poor in the US and abroad that we quench our thirst. So yes, "you people" are worried about the Congo because we are humane and understand the greater connection to our world and what we can and must do to stop it.

[namlegif]

I thought I had an innocuous 2 mm gold wedding band until I saw this segment on the millions of lives lost because of the business of mining for gold, with all the greed and corruption involved there. Thank you, 60 Minutes, for investigating this situation, and for all you have contributed over the years to raising my understanding and awareness. I appreciate that there's a show like yours that takes chances to bring honesty, substance and depth with your investigative journalism. I try to catch ths show whenever I can.

[MPHgrad]

I did as well. When I told my husband I didn't want a diamond for my wedding band a decade ago, he told me then that gold too was a conflict product. I thought he was exaggerating; I am ashamed of my ignorance.