August 12, 2024--Written by Paul Wiseman for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--High-tech companies and the energy transition as a whole require increasing amounts of earth, rare and otherwise. Many of these earths/metals come from nations riddled with wars or other territorial conflicts, or from nations with poor records on human rights and/or--ironically--environmental concerns. In many African countries, militias fund their oppressive activities by selling minerals obtained through forced-labor mining operations.