The Guardian view on the scramble for critical minerals: while powers vie for access, labourers die | Editorial

A mining disaster in the Democratic Republic of Congo underscores the human cost of extraction. Intensified competition for resources isn’t helpingWhen Donald Trump boasted recently that he had stopped the conflict between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – though fighting persists in the DRC, at – he made clear that his goals went beyond a long-sought Nobel Peace prize.“They said to me, ‘Please, please, we would love you to come and take our minerals.’ Which we’ll do,” the US president added. Now he is following through. Last Monday he launched plan, “Project Vault”, worth almost $12bn. Two days later, JD Vance hosted a summit seeking to for critical minerals.