Children as young as five-years-old were found to be working in one illegal mine.
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NewsTranscript
00:00A new business is booming in northern Nigeria, the mining for lithium.
00:05Filled by its growing demand for making batteries for electric vehicles and phones,
00:10the new frontier is, however, coming with a steep cost.
00:14The methods are as primitive as they are dangerous.
00:17Miners wield axes to hack through rocks, descending several feet into dark pits.
00:25The shadowy world of Nigeria's illegal artisanal mining thrives on informal networks of buyers
00:42and sellers, operating with minimal government oversight.
00:54A business for the poorest and most vulnerable.
01:07Local merchants say a team of six children can sort and bag up to 10-25 kilograms a day.
01:24Lithium mining began here about a decade ago.
01:42The work here feeds the stock of Chinese businesses
01:44who dominate Nigeria's laxly regulated extractive industry.