The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America published on 20 June 2023 a study titled "China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Artisanal Cobalt Mining from 2000 through 2020" by Andrew L. Gulley, U.S. Geological Survey.
The study systematically evaluates the role of artisanal mining in world cobalt mine production. It finds that artisanal cobalt mining's share of world cobalt mining has generally decreased since 2008 and that most artisanal production was either processed in the DRC by Chinese firms or exported to China.
