If you have not spared a thought for cobalt since high school science, then it might be time.
It is having a boom, and the modern world is increasingly reliant on it — using it to stabilise batteries in phones, computers and electric cars; in fact, it is probably in the device you are using right now.
But there is a catch.
Cobalt is mined in a string of countries around the world including Australia, but most of the world's supply comes from just one country in Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — a nation with a long record of poorly-enforced labour standards and child exploitation.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-25/cobalt-child-labour-smartphone-batteries-congo/10031330