The elements of power, p.53
The Elements of Power, page 53
“U.S. authorities must hold Glencore”: Global Witness, “Glencore Must Not Pay Millions to Sanctioned Individual,” press release, June 15, 2018, archived January 17, 2025, at web.archive.org/web/20250117191409/https://www.globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/glencore-must-not-pay-millions-sanctioned-individual/.
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“Bribery is a highly corrosive”: Daniel Thomas, “DR Congo: Miner Glencore Pays $180m in Latest Corruption Case,” BBC News, December 5, 2022, bbc.com/news/business-63858295.
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“no longer necessary”: Consent Motion to Modify Conditions of Probation, United States v. Glencore International A.G., No. 22-cr-580440 (S.D.N.Y. filed Mar. 20, 2025), 1, https://ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws.com/web/direct-files/31530623/ab4d25ca-d0dd-4860-88c5-1d9661eda303/gov.uscourts.nysd.580440.63.0.pdf [inactive].
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“This kind of corruption”: Bridget Nsimenta, “Kinshasa Govt Lacks Resources and Capacity to Control Eastern DRC—US Congressman,” Nile Post, March 26, 2025, nilepost.co.ug/news/250232/kinshasa-govt-lacks-resources-and-capacity-to-control-eastern-drc---us-congressman.
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“concerns and discussions”: Andrew Stevenson, interview with the author, July 2023.
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“Communist Party is firmly”: Jack Nicas, “He Warned Apple About the Risks in China. Then They Became Reality,” New York Times, June 17, 2021.
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“not going to export batteries”: Ivan Glasenberg, keynote speech, Financial Times Future of the Car Summit, May 12, 2021.
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Chapter 40: Green-Tinted Glasses
But other mines seem: George Arthur Forrest, Un siècle de rêves: Ensemble, bâtissons l’avenir (Le Cherche Midi, 2022), 105.
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Yu also held: “#296 Yu Yong,” Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bloomberg, 2024, bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/yong-yu/.
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Because of its acquisitions: Mark Burton, “Glencore Set to Lose Crown as Top Cobalt Miner to China’s CMOC,” Bloomberg, March 21, 2023, bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-21/glencore-set-to-lose-crown-as-top-cobalt-miner-to-china-s-cmoc.
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create powerful alloys: Thomas J. Vogl et al., Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology (Springer, 2016), 593.
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founders of BHR Partners: The firm’s name was Bohai Harvest RST (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd., and in 2023 changed to BHR Partners (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd.
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“Oligarchs used to”: Devon Archer, interview with the author, January 2022.
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China Moly was interested: “Lundin Mining Announces Agreement to Sell Interest in TF Holdings for $1.136 Billion,” Lundin Mining, November 15, 2016, lundinmining.com/news/lundin-mining-announces-agreement-to-sell-interest-122523/.
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Gécamines did protest: Thomas Wilson, “Congo Said to Get $100 Million to Clear China Moly Mine Purchase,” Bloomberg, February 22, 2017, bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-22/congo-said-to-get-100-million-to-clear-china-moly-mine-purchase.
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greenfield cobalt site: “CMOC Announces Acquisition of Kisanfu Copper-Cobalt Deposit in DRC,” CMOC, December 13, 2020, en.cmoc.com/html/2020/News_1213/39.html.
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Kisanfu has an estimated: Tom Daly, “CATL Takes Stake in China Moly Cobalt Mine for $137.5 Million,” Reuters, April 11, 2021.
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most important cobalt deposits: Daly, “CATL Takes Stake in China Moly Cobalt Mine for $137.5 Million.”
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web of connections: “的华友” [Advancing Huayou], Huayou Cobalt, huayou.com/about/culture/video/10.
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Other Chinese battery: “China’s Gotion Follows CATL Playbook with Nickel Investment,” September 20, 2023, source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/chinas-gotion-follows-catl-playbook-with-nickel-investment.
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Chapter 41: Seizing the Space
China Moly’s subsidiary: “Democratic Republic of the Congo: Artisanal Miners at Risk as the Army Moves In,” Amnesty International, June 28, 2019, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr62/0625/2019/en/.
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Eight hundred men: “Treasury Sanctions Two Individuals for Threatening the Stability of and Undermining Democratic Processes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” United States Justice Department, September 26, 2016, https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jl0560.
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force the miners out: John Numbi, interview with the author, March 2023. “I asked the gov’ to remove people from the mines of Katanga,” Numbi told me. “I was the only one who went to chase people from the mines who were stealing.” (Numbi went into hiding somewhere in Southern Africa after falling out with the government, and he denied killing the human-rights activist.) See also Amnesty International to Excellency Mister Félix Tshisekedi, “Artisanal Miners at Risk as the Army Moves In,” letter, June 27, 2019, amnesty.org/en/documents/afr62/0625/2019/en/.
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“Imagine yourself on”: “Lualaba: Le Gouverneur Muyej condamne l’érection de la cité ‘Kafwaya,’ ” Radio Okapi, January 19, 2018, radiookapi.net/2018/01/19/actualite/en-bref/lualaba-le-gouverneur-muyej-condamne-lerection-de-la-cite-kafwaya.
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“If the investors complain”: Aaron Ross, “Send in the Troops: Congo Raises the Stakes on Illegal Mining,” Reuters, July 17, 2019. Parentheses appear in the original.
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obvious in Congo: It was not just China Moly that had enacted such policies. Such an arrangement had been here since before the Chinese, since the days when the mine was owned by Freeport-McMoRan.
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The GOP pointed: Louis Jacobsen, “Hunter Biden and China: Sorting Through a Murky Business Deal,” PolitiFact, May 22, 2020, politifact.com/article/2020/may/22/hunter-biden-and-china-sorting-through-murky-busin/.
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Part 5: Waking Up
“High speed is”: Ivan Illich, Energy and Equity (Harper & Row, 1974), 12.
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Chapter 42: God Is Smiling on Congo
God is smiling: Amos Hochstein, interview with the author, May 2022.
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a Congolese newscaster: “RDC-USA: Amos Hochstein, Émissaire de Joe Biden à Kinshasa,” posted on September 12, 2022, by b-one TV Congo, YouTube, youtube.com/watch?v=NvMFuAcMsDo.
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its critical minerals and where: Securing Defense-Critical Supply Chains: An Action Plan Developed in Response to President Biden’s Executive Order 14017 (Department of Defense, February 2022), 10, media.defense.gov/2022/Feb/24/2002944158/-1/-1/1/DOD-EO-14017-REPORT-SECURING-DEFENSE-CRITICAL-SUPPLY-CHAINS.PDF.
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supply-chain review by: Securing Defense-Critical Supply Chains, 19.
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a seven-way memorandum: “Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Working Arrangements Between the Government of the United States of America, the European Commission, the Government of the Republic of Zambia, the Government of the Republic of Angola, the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the African Development Bank, and Africa Finance Corporation Relating to the Development of the Lobito Corridor and the Zambia–Lobito Rail Line,” U.S. Embassy Zambia, 2024, zm.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/44/2024/05/Lobito_Corridor_MOU.pdf.
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no U.S. businesses in Congo: U.S. State Department official, conversation with the author, November 2023.
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A Washington lobbyist told: U.S. lobbyist, conversation with the author, March 2024.
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famous in the U.S. business: Zeitlin had resigned from the firm that owns the brands Kate Spade and Coach in July 2020, after it emerged that he was involved in what he called an “inappropriate relationship” with a woman who later complained about it. See Jesse Eisinger, “The Bizarre Fall of the CEO of Coach and Kate Spade’s Parent Company,” ProPublica, July 22, 2020, propublica.org/article/the-bizarre-fall-of-the-ceo-of-coach-and-kate-spades-parent-company.
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“laser focus” on Congo’s: Eric Lipton and Dionne Searcey, “Who Are Congo’s Cobalt Entrepreneurs?,” New York Times, December 7, 2017, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/12/07/world/congo-cobalt-investors.html.
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“his investment plan could”: Dionne Searcey et al., “On the Banks of the Furious Congo River, a 5-Star Emporium of Ambition,” New York Times, December 7, 2021.
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even showed the paper: Letter to President Joseph R. Biden from Senator Christopher A. Coons et al., United States Senate, July 13, 2021.
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Glencore certainly hadn’t: Glencore representative, interview with the author, June 2022.
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After more geological: “Probe into Sodimico Deal with US Rapper Akon’s Firm,” Africa Intelligence, December 12, 2022, africaintelligence.com/central-africa/2022/12/08/probe-into-sodimico-deal-with-us-rapper-akon-s-firm,109872137-art.
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report by the Cobalt Institute: Cobalt Market Report 2023 (Cobalt Institute, May 2024), 46.
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twenty Chinese workers had died: “Feature: Chinese-Built Benguela Railway Revitalizes Angola’s Economy,” Xinhua, October 3, 2019, xinhuanet.com/english/2019-10/03/c_138446624_2.htm [inactive].
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Angola’s huge offshore: “Angola to Leverage Chinese Investment to Stimulate Oil Production,” Energy Capital & Power, September 19, 2024, energycapitalpower.com/angola-to-leverage-chinese-investment-to-stimulate-oil-production/.
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saw a man crushed: Anna Hollmer, “Unveiling the True Nature of the Artisanal Cobalt Mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Systemic Conditions in the Mines and Implications for Global Supply Chains and Social Justice” (thesis, Anglo-American University in Prague, 2024), 1.
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Congolese on the Cobalt: “Ivanhoe Mines’ Exports Commence from Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex Along Lobito Atlantic Rail Corridor,” Ivanhoe Mines, January 2, 2024, ivanhoemines.com/news-stories/news-release/ivanhoe-mines-exports-commence-from-kamoa-kakula-copper-complex-along-lobito-atlantic-rail-corridor/.
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heralded the project: Andres Schipani, “The US Railway That Could Set Off a Copper War,” Financial Times, August 21, 2024.
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constantly asked them for money: Message to author from State Department consultant, December 4, 2024.
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Tshisekedi hailed the project: “Remarks by President Biden Participating in the Lobito Corridor Trans-Africa Summit,” White House, December 4, 2024, bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/12/04/remarks-by-president-biden-participating-in-the-lobito-corridor-trans-africa-summit-benguela-angola/.
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a few printed pages: E. D. Wala Chabala, “Lobito Corridor—A Reality Check,” African Policy Research Institute, February 2, 2024, afripoli.org/lobito-corridor-a-reality-check.
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“fostering U.S. private sector investment”: “Trump Envoy Says US-Congo Mining and Security Deal Moving Ahead,” Bloomberg, April 3, 2025.
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“I mean, the Lobito Corridor”: Businessman connected to Congolese mining, conversation with the author, February 2025.
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After an agreement to end: William Clowes, Archie Hunter, and Michael J Kavanagh, “Special Forces Veterans Lead US Bid to Buy Congo Cobalt Miner,” Bloomberg, July 17, 2025, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-17/special-forces-veterans-lead-us-bid-to-buy-congo-cobalt-miner.
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James Story, the U.S. ambassador: Miguel Gomes, “US Committed to Funding Angola’s Lobito Rail Corridor Despite Spending Cuts, Diplomat Says,” Reuters, April 3, 2025.
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Chapter 43: The Spice of Life
has been nicknamed: “Aminatou Haidar, the ‘Gandhi of Western Sahara,’ Wins Right Livelihood Award,” Democracy Now, September 25, 2019, democracynow.org/2019/9/25/aminatou_haidar_the_gandhi_of_western.
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“Life can multiply”: Isaac Asimov, Asimov on Chemistry (Anchor Books, 1975), 164, 170.
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No cobalt or nickel: Arumugam Manthiram and J. B. Goodenough, “Lithium Insertion into Fe2(MO4)3 Frameworks: Comparison of M = W with M = M,” Journal of Solid State Chemistry 71, no. 2 (1987): 349.
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The two scientists’ attention: Manthiram and Goodenough, “Lithium Insertion into Fe2(MO4)3 Frameworks,” 349.
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“a cathode of good capacity”: A. K. Padhi et al., “Phospho-Olivines as Positive-Electrode Materials for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries,” Journal of the Electrochemical Society 144, no. 4 (1997): 1191.
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“shows this material to be”: Padhi et al., “Phospho-Olivines as Positive-Electrode Materials for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries,” 1188.
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LFP cathodes represented: Batteries and Secure Energy Transitions (International Energy Agency, 2024), iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/cb39c1bf-d2b3-446d-8c35-aae6b1f3a4a0/BatteriesandSecureEnergyTransitions.pdf.
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low cost and high safety: LFMP, another olivine cathode that is structurally similar to LFP but contains manganese and has 15 to 20 percent more energy density than the original cathodes, is also rising in popularity. According to battery manufacturers, LMFP cathodes can be produced at much the same price as the other phosphate batteries. See Phate Zhang, “CATL Said to Mass Produce LMFP Batteries Within This Year,” CnEVPost, July 12, 2022, cnevpost.com/2022/07/12/catl-said-to-mass-produce-lithium-manganese-iron-phosphate-batteries-within-this-year/.
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acquire in the 1990s: As Goodenough and two other scientists in his lab wrote, “The availability and cost of the transition metals used in these compounds are unfavourable as the Wh/$ [watt-hours per dollar] is a more important figure of merit than Wh/g [watt-hours per gram] in the case of large batteries to be used in an electric vehicle or a load-levelling system.” They noted: “These consideration [sic] have motivated the investigation of iron-based oxides.” See Padhi et al., “Phospho-Olivines as Positive-Electrode Materials for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries,” 1189.
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those of Morocco: Directorate of Intelligence, “Spanish Sahara: Phosphates and Sovereignty,” Intelligence Memorandum, September 1970, Central Intelligence Agency, www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp85t00875r001600030125-0. The memo was declassified, in part, on October 31, 2011.
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For every dirham of profit: Fouad Abdelmoumni (Transparency International), interview with the author, June 2018.
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prices on the phosphate market: Dan Egan, The Devil’s Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance (W. W. Norton, 2023), 59.
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