Mineral Smuggling Losses Said to Cost

 

By David Lewis

A natural resources watchdog group issued a report Tuesday warning that smuggling¹ and corruption³ are costing the Democratic Republic of Congo millions of dollars a month in lost revenues from copper⁴ and cobalt mining. Global Witness expresses particular concern that the loss coincides with a boom in cobalt prices that neither the country's economy nor the local miners were profiting from.

With swathes of territory blessed with gold, diamonds, coltan, copper and cobalt, the Congo is a country famous for its vast mineral wealth. But yet another damning report has been issued by analysts⁵ examining the country's mining sector⁶.

Global Witness, a London-based natural resource exploitation watchdog, said Tuesday that rampant⁷ corruption and smuggling means that the impoverished⁸ country is losing millions of dollars a month in revenues from copper and cobalt mining.

In its report on mining in Congo's southern province of Katanga, the organization says that despite a boom in the price of cobalt, neither the country's economy nor the local population is benefiting.

The analysts say the country is missing out because so much of its ore is being smuggled⁹ out of the country and the vast majority is leaving unprocessed. Global cobalt prices have tripled since May 2003 and they now stand at a record $55,100 per tonne. This is largely driven by China's massive demand for the metal, which is used in mobile phone batteries. But the report notes huge inconsistencies between the amount of cobalt China imported from the Congo and the amount the African country's central bank said was being produced. Global Witness says the discrepancy¹⁰ raises serious concerns about where mining revenues are going and how trade and production is being recorded. It adds that corrupt² customs officers are colluding with transport companies to allow the export of unprocessed copper and cobalt ore - despite a recent decree calling for refining to take place in the Congo.

Meanwhile, the analysts say that thousands of artisanal miners are working in appalling¹¹ conditions, earning less than a dollar a day, gathering¹² minerals soil by hand.

Although endowed with vast mineral wealth, the former Zaire has been torn apart by years of conflict and the country remains¹³ one of the world's poorest.

Congo's transitional government is struggling to lead its people to elections after the official end to a five-year war that sucked in six neighboring countries and killed three million people, mostly from hunger and disease.

Global Witness called on the international community to support attempts by the fragile government to implement¹⁴ the mining code, which was introduced in 2002 to control a sector that is notoriously unregulated.

David Lewis for VOA news, Kinshasa.
注释：
watchdog 监察人员
smuggling 走私
corruption 腐败，贪污
revenue 国家收入，税收
cobalt 钴
rampant 猖獗的
impoverished 穷困的，用尽了的
ore 矿石
unprocessed 未被加工的
inconsistency 矛盾
collude 串通，勾结
artisanal 工匠的，技术的
implement 执行，实施
notoriously 声名狼藉的

1 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

2 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

3 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

4 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

5 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

6 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

7 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

8 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

10 discrepancy   

n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾

参考例句：

• The discrepancy in their ages seemed not to matter.他们之间年龄的差异似乎没有多大关系。
• There was a discrepancy in the two reports of the accident.关于那次事故的两则报道有不一致之处。

11 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

12 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

14 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。