10,000 families to be moved from cobalt site

DR Congo authorities are to pay some 10,000 families to move away from a southeastern town sitting atop billions of dollars worth of cobalt, a provincial governor said Tuesday.

Impoverished but mineral-rich DR Congo is the world’s largest producer of the rare metal, which is crucial for making batteries used in mobile phones and electric vehicles.

“If the state determines that it is in the interest of the entire nation, it can relocate and compensate the inhabitants,” said Richard Muyej, governor of Lualaba province and a former interior minister.