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 helping

When 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 appalling human cost - he madeclear 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 a new strategic reserve plan, Project Vault", worth almost $12bn. Two days later, JDVance hosted a summit seeking to create a trade zone for critical minerals.