Artisanal cobalt feeds into the formal supply chain via an informal ecosystem of négociants (traders) and comptoirs (depots), also known as maisons d’achat (buying houses). These are the fuzzy linkages that serve to launder minerals from artisanal sources into the formal supply chain. Négociants are independent operators who work in and around artisanal sites to purchase cobalt from artisanal miners. They are almost all young Congolese males, and they either pay a fixed price per sack or offer a split of the sales price to the depots.
