Elements washed in blood
18 elements across 6 categories of conflict minerals,
battery elements; rare earths; semiconductors; conductors, structural.
Each row: element, source country, market price, and cost in blood.
Every element has a country.
- Every country has a mine.
- Every mine has a child.
- Every child has a name nobody asked.
The prices are approximate market rates.
They fluctuate.
The blood costs don’t.
The Periodic Table of Blood
What's in your phone. What it cost. Who paid.
| Element | Source | Price ($/kg) | Cost in Blood |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conflict Minerals — the "3TGs" + Cobalt | |||
| Tantalum (Ta) | DRC (70%), Rwanda, Australia, Brazil | ~$150–400/kg | 40,000+ child miners in DRC. Armed militias control mines, tax miners at gunpoint. M23 rebel group earns ~$300,000/month from Rubaya coltan mine alone. 7 million internally displaced. DNA damage documented in children near mines. |
| Cobalt (Co) | DRC (70%), Russia, Australia, Philippines | ~$30–55/kg | 25,000+ children in DRC cobalt mines (US Dept of Labor). Children as young as 7. 80% of DRC cobalt owned by Chinese companies. Forced evictions, toxic exposure, communities destroyed for mine expansion. "Blood-for-cobalt economy" (Siddharth Kara). |
| Tin (Sn) | DRC, Indonesia, Myanmar, China | ~$25–30/kg | Artisanal mining in DRC funds armed groups. In Indonesia, coral reefs destroyed, fishermen displaced. Myanmar mines linked to ethnic militias and forced labour. |
| Tungsten (W) | DRC, China (80%), Rwanda, Bolivia | ~$30–50/kg | DRC mining controlled by armed groups. China dominates processing; Uyghur forced labour allegations in Xinjiang supply chains. Rwanda accused of laundering DRC tungsten through its own exports. |
| Gold (Au) | DRC, China, Russia, Australia, Peru | ~$85,000/kg | Uganda exported $2.25 billion in gold (2020-21) despite minimal domestic production — laundered from DRC. No jewellery industry standard for verifying gold origin. Funds militias, massacres, forced displacement. Mercury poisoning in artisanal mines. |
| Battery Elements | |||
| Lithium (Li) | Australia, Chile, Argentina, China, DRC | ~$15–25/kg | Chile/Argentina: indigenous communities' water sources depleted by evaporation ponds in the "lithium triangle." 500,000 gallons of water per tonne of lithium. Environmental devastation of salt flats. DRC extraction emerging. |
| Nickel (Ni) | Indonesia, Philippines, Russia, New Caledonia | ~$16–20/kg | Indonesia: deforestation of rainforest for open-pit mines. Toxic tailings dumped into the sea. Indigenous Obi Island communities displaced. Russia: Norilsk — one of the most polluted cities on earth. |
| Manganese (Mn) | South Africa, Gabon, Australia, China | ~$2–4/kg | South Africa: miners exposed to manganese dust causing "manganism" — irreversible neurological damage resembling Parkinson's. Gabon: environmental degradation near Moanda mine. |
| Graphite (C) | China (65%), Mozambique, Madagascar, Brazil | ~$1–2/kg | China: villages near graphite processing plants report crop destruction, polluted water, respiratory illness. Mozambique: communities displaced for Syrah Resources mine; local opposition met with violence. |
| Rare Earths — Magnets, Screens, Speakers | |||
| Neodymium (Nd) | China (60%), Myanmar, Australia | ~$200–350/kg | China: Bayan Obo mine — radioactive waste lakes, cancer clusters in surrounding villages. Myanmar: rare earth mining in Kachin State funds ethnic armed groups; unregulated acid leaching poisons rivers. |
| Dysprosium (Dy) | China (90%+), Myanmar | ~$300–500/kg | Same supply chain as neodymium. China's near-monopoly used as geopolitical weapon — export restrictions weaponise supply. Myanmar extraction linked to deforestation and ethnic conflict. |
| Semiconductors — the Brains | |||
| Silicon (Si) | China, Russia, Brazil, Norway | ~$2–3/kg (metallurgical) | China: Xinjiang produces ~35% of world's polysilicon. US sanctions over Uyghur forced labour in factories. Energy-intensive production — coal-powered plants generating massive CO₂. |
| Gallium (Ga) | China (80%), Japan, Russia | ~$300–400/kg | China controls 80% of global supply. Export restrictions imposed 2023 as geopolitical leverage. Dependency creates national security vulnerability for every chip-importing nation. |
| Germanium (Ge) | China (60%), Russia, US | ~$1,000–1,500/kg | China restricted exports 2023 alongside gallium. Critical for fibre optics, infrared optics, military applications. Supply weaponisation as geopolitical tool. |
| Conductors — the Wiring | |||
| Copper (Cu) | Chile, DRC, Peru, China, US | ~$8–10/kg | Chile: indigenous Atacameño water rights destroyed. Peru: Tía María mine protests — police killed protesters. DRC: Glencore's Mutanda mine — forced evictions, child labour, toxic waste. Every EV needs 83kg of copper. |
| Indium (In) | China (50%), South Korea, Japan | ~$200–350/kg | Byproduct of zinc mining. China dominates supply and processing. Critical for every touchscreen (ITO coating). Supply concentration creates strategic vulnerability. |
| Structural | |||
| Aluminium (Al) | Australia (bauxite), Guinea, China, India | ~$2.5–3/kg | Guinea: military junta controls bauxite exports. Communities displaced for mines. "Red mud" toxic waste destroys farmland. Smelting is the single most energy-intensive industrial process — often coal-powered. |
| Iron (Fe) | Australia, Brazil, China, India | ~$0.10–0.15/kg | Brazil: Mariana dam collapse (2015) killed 19, destroyed villages. Brumadinho dam collapse (2019) killed 270. Both owned by Vale. Indigenous territories invaded for mining in Amazon. |