Map Shows Gold is Top Conflict Mineral in Eastern Congo-英语听力

[00:00.10]From VOA Learning English, [00:02.37]this is the Economics Report. [00:05.38]Researchers have produced a new map of mining areas [00:10.05]in the Democratic Republic of Congo. [00:12.93]The map shows mines under the control of [00:16.54]the Congolese army and armed groups. [00:20.07]The study suggests that the top conflict mineral [00:24.86]in the area is now gold. [00:28.12]A Belgian group, [00:30.58]the International Peace Information Service (IPIS), [00:34.00]carried out the study in partnership [00:36.85]with the DRC registry of mines. [00:40.33]The researchers found that armed groups were involved [00:45.69]in about 200 of the 800 mines they studied, [00:50.67]the Congolese army was involved at 265 mines. [00:56.69]The researchers reported that both the military [01:01.46]and the militias are taxing mine workers illegally. [01:06.43]The International Peace Information Service [01:10.25]carried out a similar survey in 2009. [01:14.57]Filip Hilgert was the lead researcher. [01:18.48]He told VOA the map they made 4 years ago is no longer correct. [01:25.11]He said many of the miners are now digging for gold, [01:29.53]and he said the armed groups are profiting much more [01:34.05]from gold than from other conflict minerals, [01:37.72]such as tin, tungsten and tantalum. [01:41.84]These minerals are often called the "three T's." [01:46.65]One reason for the change has been an increase [01:51.87]in the price of gold. [01:53.68]Another reason has been stronger international rules [01:58.54]for mineral imports. [02:00.22]The United States Congress passed legislation [02:04.53]to fight the trade of conflict minerals. [02:07.40]Mr Hilgert says such efforts have had a big effect [02:13.52]on trade in the three T's, [02:16.07]but it has not effected the gold trade. [02:20.13]Judith Sargentini is a member of the European parliament. [02:25.17]She has been campaigning for a European law on conflict minerals. [02:31.29]She notes that gold like diamonds [02:34.87]is easy to transport in small amounts, [02:38.73]that explains why it is hard to know where it was mined. [02:45.10]The German geological institute BGR [02:50.26]has collected minerals from hundreds of mines in Rwanda. [02:54.98]The collections could be used to prove [02:59.04]whether a sample of minerals came from a conflict area. [03:03.91]But Judith Sargentini suggests [03:06.97]that geophysical tests will not work. [03:10.53]She say buyers need to know about their suppliers. [03:15.54]"You cannot solve every trade in a commodity by trying [03:20.51]to find out what the geological background of a material is. [03:25.39]It shows that you need, first of all, [03:28.20]a due diligence supply chain, [03:30.31]and second of all, [03:31.48]initiatives that lead to fairtrade gold mining," said Sargentini. [03:35.28]Due diligence in this case means knowing [03:40.61]and being about to trust your supplier. [03:44.57]And that is the Economics Report for VOA Learning English. [03:51.00]I'm Mario Ritter.