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Abdul is a ten-year-old boy from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the DRC) who climbs into a narrow cobalt shaft to support his family financially. Children like him work alongside adults in informal mines with no safety rules, no insurance, and no guarantee of fair payment. Their labour is hidden from regulators and buyers, yet the minerals they dig are essential for the tech industry.

The DRC supplies about 70% of the world's cobalt, an important mineral for rechargeable car batteries. Roughly one-fifth of this cobalt comes from artisanal mines, many involving children as young as seven, according to the US Department of Labor. These miners depend on local traders to sell their minerals, with payments delayed for weeks and delivered only in cash, since they rarely have access to banks. The cycle locks families into poverty while exposing children to dangerous work and little oversight.

For years, companies have pointed to the triple bottom line model of people, planet, and profit as the answer. Promises all over, but proof is rare. Children still work underground, forests are cleared, and rivers are polluted while mining families remain poor.

Blockchain as a Transparency Tool

Blockchain offers a potential change. Its immutable ledgers can record the journey of minerals from mine to buyer, logging miner IDs, extraction methods, and environmental data. Digital IDs linked to biometrics could regulate who enters a registered site and who gets paid. If a child's ID appears, the payout system can automatically block funds. Safety checks, equipment use, and environmental repairs can also be logged, creating an auditable trail that replaces the paper slips frequently lost or falsified.

Case Studies in Practice

Payments are another weak link. Instead of cash handed through negotiants, miners could be paid instantly in stable digital tokens or via USSD once their delivery is verified. Prices, grades, and volumes can be posted to the ledger, providing transparency. Direct, fast payments reduce room for bribes, short weights, and weeks of waiting that push families into debt.

This isn't just theory. Swiss-based Fedrok AG, a blockchain company focused on carbon credits and ESG compliance, has launched a grant programme to fund the development of a micro-transaction platform for Chad and Niger. The MVP, still under development, is designed to work offline, be mobile-first, and serve unbanked users. Its architecture will embed ESG verification into each transaction, enabling real-time monitoring of social and environmental standards. If successful, it could widen economic participation while linking local progress with global responsibility.

A similar approach is visible in Papua New Guinea, where Fedrok's and Howarig Traders' T4G Pay links blockchain payments to tokenised carbon reserves. Each payout supports direct revenue sharing with landowners while also ensuring that environmental and social standards are built into the process itself. Here, blockchain supports economic empowerment, land rights, and climate accountability to move forward together.

Provenance and Environmental Repair

Payments are only part of the fix. Provenance tracking adds another layer. Bags of minerals can carry scannable codes linked to miner ID, GPS, and inspection notes. Each scan updates the chain of custody, allowing buyers worldwide to confirm if a shipment meets standards before releasing payment. For communities, environmental repair can even become income. If a cooperative plants trees, reduces mercury, or installs simple water recycling, those actions can be verified and minted as tokenised carbon credits. Credits can be sold on-chain and redistributed transparently through smart contracts.

Limits and the Road Ahead

Some multinational initiatives, such as the Fair Cobalt Alliance and Cobalt for Development, are also working to improve safety, provide community education, and reduce child labour. Companies are testing traceability from extraction to product. But many firms avoid buying from artisanal miners altogether, cutting off livelihoods without addressing root causes.

Blockchain cannot solve these problems alone. Government enforcement, community cooperation, and independent audits remain critical. The technology can, however, provide evidence that ethical practices are being followed and reward miners who comply. Smart contracts can send payments immediately after verified work, reducing the power of intermediaries who exploit miners.

Abdul's story shows how today's supply chains continually harm the very people they rely on. Fair pay for miners, clear records of labour and environmental standards, and open value chains are small steps that can ease the pressure on local communities. Blockchain cannot erase child labour overnight, but it can expose hidden practices, reward responsible behaviour, and give miners a path to earn without sacrificing their children's health or education.