Your cell phone or laptop wouldn’t work without a mineral called coltan. The Democratic Republic of Congo has about 80 percent of the world’s coltan reserves, and that has spawned a corrupt and violent industry. Military factions vie for control of the mines, earning millions of dollars while the miners themselves barely scrape by.

One of those miners is Fidele Musafiri, a small man with a hammer, a spike, and a dream of striking it rich. But danger is never far away.

Winner of the Richard H. Driehaus/Third Coast Festival award for best news feature.