The Environmental Investigation Agency and PremiCongo published in March 2026 a report titled "Toxic Transition: How the World's Largest Cobalt Producer Has Allegedly Poisoned Communities for Years."
A Chinese company, CMOC Group Ltd., controls two of the world's largest copper-cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Thousands of people live within a few kilometers of the operations and its massive processing plant. Local communities and civil society groups have sounded the alarm about severe health issues. Since 2023, doctors and nurses near the mines have treated a growing list of patients.
