The southern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is known as the Copperbelt because of its rich deposits of copper and other minerals.
The area was the original source of uranium ore for the first nuclear weapons built by the US’s Manhattan Project (1942 and 1947). Two atomic bombs were then dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
The Manhattan Project’s main source of uranium was the Cobberbelt’s Shinkolobwe mine in south-east DRC. It has been officially closed to excavation since 2004.
The DRC hasn’t officially reported any uranium exports in decades.
However, our recent research shows that substantial unreported quantities of uranium are likely to be leaving the country today. I am a geologist with expertise in analysing data concerning the chemical and mineral contents of rocks. I do most of my work in map-view, taking in spatial data points – like regional cobalt statistics – and drawing conclusions.
