These sites are mainly worked by the artisanal mining group Coopérative des Exploitants Artisanaux Miniers dans les Hauts Plateaux de Numbi – Buzi (COPAMIHANUBU).

[12] Spillover violence from the 1993 war in Masisi Territory led to open conflict between the autochthonous Tembo people and the Banyarwanda who had previously lived in the same areas.

Tembo fled the highlands, and the Banyarwanda achieved de facto local autonomy by recognizing the authority of Mwami Raymond Sangara, an ethnic Havu.

A 2008 report from the NGO International Peace Information Service claimed income from the Numbi mines likely made its way to a variety of armed groups, including the PARECO, FDLR, and CNDP.

[15] In 2020, a group of 120 Nyatura militia stationed in Numbi who had previously surrendered to government forces decided to take up arms again after being treated poorly for about two months.