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Old mobile phones provide gold for Africa

Stephen Hong, Seoul

Stephen Hong, Seoul

Updated: October 07, 2010 10:20 AM GMT
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Korean Catholic Solidarity for the Integrity of Creation  makes a donation to the Sisters of Christian Doctrine (Photo courtesy of Korean Catholic Solidarity for the Integrity of Creation)
Korean Catholic Solidarity for the Integrity of Creation makes a donation to the Sisters of Christian Doctrine (Photo courtesy of Korean Catholic Solidarity for the Integrity of Creation)
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A Catholic organization in Korea is raising funds for African children by collecting old mobile phones to recover valuable parts for sale. The Korean Catholic Solidarity for the Integrity of Creation  on Oct. 2 donated 44 million won (about US$40,000) to the Sisters of Christian Doctrine in Andong. It  discovered that unused cell phones, mostly discarded as waste, contain valuable parts that can be turned into money for supporting children in central Africa affected by civil war and environmental problems. Since September 2009, the umbrella group of Catholic environmental organizations has collected unused cell phones through over 1,500 parishes nationwide. According to the organization, 100 unused mobile phones contain about 3.75 grams of gold electronic parts. Under their one year campaign, all 6.5 tons or 60-70 thousand units of phones were collected. The organization then learned that coltan, a rare metal also found in mobile phones, is mostly mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country witnessing a war between the government and the rebels over the acquisition of coltan mines. They decided to donate the first fund to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring Congo. Peter Kwon Chang-sik, coordinator of the organization, said 80 percent of coltan deposits are in the Congo area. Increasing coltan mining are destroying tropical forest areas and also the world’s last natural habitat for gorillas.To aggravate the situation, over 3 million people are displaced because of the war. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there are six Korean nuns from the Sisters of Christian Doctrine congregation helping local children by using the donated funds. Kwon added that although mobile phones contain harmful metals such as lead, arsenic and cadmium, which destroy nature if buried or burned, they also have other valuable metals like silver and copper. For that, an unused cell phone could be worth between 1,300-1,600 won (around US$1-1.5), he said. Related reeport Nun leads prayer vigil for Mother Earth KO11483.1622

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