[3] The Musonoi mine is located in a dolomitic inferior formation of the Roan Group, Katanga Supergroup, from the Precambrian IV age.

Women and children collected malachite from the surface, while men used iron picks to excavate pits and shafts, using fire to crack the rocks when needed.

The lowest death rate at the Panda, Lubumbashi, Kisanga and Musonoi work sites in 1928 was four men per month.

Due to poor recovery rates when the mines were operational, these tailings hold valuable quantities of copper.

[10] In September 2010 the Kolwezi tailings project was the subject of a complaint to the UK regulator by Canadian company First Quantum Minerals.

The company alleged that Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, which had acquired a large share in the project, had misled investors over the acquisition.

[17] The mine contains 32.1 million tonnes at a grade of 2.8% copper and 0.9% cobalt, with a feasibility study completed in 2017, and construction scheduled to begin in 2019.