Mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The revised code was opposed by many multinational mining companies, since it introduced new taxes and removed a stability clause protecting existing investments from changes to regulations.
Filipe Calvão writes "By relying on a flexible workforce without incurring the costs of secure waged labor, companies shift the risk of price fluctuations and reputational damage to artisanal miners.
But, as a result of fluctuating prices and lowering worker retention, some companies withdrew key promises, such as frequent payments to the miners, the surface-stripping of the mine, and the replacement of worn safety equipment.
Companies are adopting and practising ESG initiatives in line with OECD Guidance and putting in place evidence of zero to low carbon footprint activities in the supply chain production of lithium-ion batteries.
BMW's involvement in these projects suggests they may need to source additional supply of cobalt from DRC mines in future, having a long-term strategic approach to sustainability in this region.
In the US, the 2010 Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act has required retailers and manufacturers to track and publish the amount of conflict minerals sourced from the DRC.
The majority of copper-cobalt mining is carried out on an industrial scale by various joint ventures between a foreign company and the Congolese state owned Gécamines as a minority partner.
Glencore’s decision to mothball its Mutanda mine in August 2019 in the Congo citing cobalt and copper operation is uneconomic due to falling commodities prices and an increase in a government royalty tax during the years of Kabila influence.
In March 2018, 1000 tons of manganese ore from the mine made up the first train of the reopened Benguela Railway following decades of closure due to the Angolan civil war.
Historically, uranium from the Shinkolobwe mine was used in several nuclear weapons programs, including serving as the majority of the raw material for the United States' Manhattan Project.
[53][54][55] At the time of the Berlin conference that precipitated the Scramble for Africa, the copper mining region of the DRC was controlled by Indigenous peoples, mainly the Yeke Kingdom headed by Msiri.
After Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi's successful 1998 invasion of eastern and southeastern DRC in the Second Congo War (1998-2003), "mass scale looting" took root, according to the United Nations.
[62] Global Witness in 2004 described the mining corporations' rush to acquire coltan-rich land in the rebel territory of the DRC as a continuation of the pattern of exploitation in play since the 1885 Conference of Berlin.
[58] The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated that Burundi has no "gold, diamonds, columbotantalite, copper, cobalt or basic metals" mining operations, but has nonetheless been exporting them since 1998.
[58] Battlefields most commonly centered on areas that held a lot of diamond and coltan potential and foreign armies' occupation of the eastern region was maintained by illegal resource exploitation.
[58] For $1 million per month rebel group RCD-Goma gave a coltan monopoly to SOMIGL which they in turn poured into efforts to gain control from RCD-ML of mineral-loaded land.
[62] A lack of state stability combined with international corporations' and foreign governments’ interest in investing in Congolese minerals increased the pace at which the DRC was shaken from its fragile foundation.
[64][65] The same year, the IFC began working with the DRC on legal and regulatory improvements through an advisory service called "Conflict Affected States in Africa" (CASA).
It received warnings from the World Bank, was heavily lobbied by mining companies and investors who wanted to be included in the revision discussions, and did not complete the project.
In July 2013, the IFC advisory service CASA re-engaged and helped the DRC adopt and implement the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) Treaty.
[88] The Congolese revocation was seen as a rebuke for the Government of Canada's alleged attempts to obstruct [89] the negotiation of International Monetary Fund and World Bank debt relief to the DRC in 2010.
As of early 2011, another eight junior Canadian mining companies including Ivanhoe Nickel & Platinum and Rubicon Minerals Corporation, reported holdings of copper and cobalt concessions in Katanga province.
[citation needed] Two Canadian-registered companies own petroleum concessions in the DRC: Heritage Oil, whose founder and former CEO is Tony Buckingham, and EnerGulf Resources.
[citation needed][99] Up until early 2011, four of the nine International Finance Corporation sponsored or proposed D.R.C projects were for Canadian-owned companies active in the DRC: to Kolwezi/Kingamyambo Musonoi Tailings SARL owned by Adastra Minerals ($50.0m., invested in 2006),[100] Africo Resources Ltd. (acquisition of Cdn.$8m.
[111] An extreme case of human rights abuse came to the surface in 2019, when a lawsuit was filed against Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Dell and Tesla for contributing to the injuries and deaths of many children, some as young as six years old.
Mining for metals like copper, lithium, nickel, and cobalt, essential for the growing electric vehicle industry, is encroaching on the habitats of Africa's great apes.
[117] Many factors contribute to the Democratic Republic of the Congo's severe socio-economic hardships, and not all resource extraction operations have had an entirely negative impact on Congolese society at large.
[119] As a result of tantalum mining and wars, societies in the eastern regions of the Congo are experiencing heightened physical and economic insecurity,[120][121] health problems and human-rights violations.
"[126] In 2016, researchers discovered extensive metal contamination in the fish in Katanga's Lake Tshangalele, near mining and other metallurgical operations in Likasi, in species commonly eaten by the local population.
[132][138] As of 2001, assessment and assistance by outside organizations has been difficult, as access to mining areas has been limited by poor road infrastructure, corrupt government officials and hostile militias.
