Artisanal Mining : Tragedy in the Congo

"Artisanal mining is largely poverty-driven."
"They're doing it because they need a source of income. They're hand-to-mouth."
"These things [deadly mining collapses] are going to continue to happen. It is not going to go away, it's going to grow if anything."
"Glencore has a responsibility to finally try and find a solution that's more constructive."
Joanne Lebert, executive director, Impact, extractive sector non-profit, Ottawa

"You need to find alternative ways for these guys to work."
"People know it’s very harsh conditions. To go underground, you either have to be on drugs or be drunk."
Claude Kabemba, executive director, Southern Africa Resource Watch, Johannesburg

"It [the mine collapse] was caused by the clandestine artisanal diggers who have infiltrated [the mine]."
"The old terraces gave way, [in the KOV open-pit mine at the Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) concession] causing significant amounts of material to fall."
Richard Muyej, governor, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lualaba province

Children wash copper at an open-air mine in the mining province of Katanga, DRC. Children often drop out of school in order to earn some money from the mines.   Gwenn Dubourthoumieu/AFP/Getty Images file photo

The Canadian mining company Katanga Mining Ltd.'s Kamoto Copper Complex was the scene of a tragedy last week, when up to 43 artisanal miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo died while free-lancing on the company's property in an illegal mining operation where they were digging for cobalt. Used for batteries in smartphones, tablets and electric cars, cobalt is a much-prized metal and found in great quantities in the DRC.

Illegal, or artisanal mining takes place throughout a great swath of Africa and elsewhere in the world where large corporate mining interests -- and Canada has a good many such corporations -- investing in areas of the world where generally the population lives in poverty while their governments lease out land and permits to foreign mining interests for their own profit, very little of it trickling down to local communities if at all.

Poverty-stricken locals take dangerously serious risks scouring tailings or waste rock in their determined search for valuable metals on properties leased by these mining operations. Despite tragic accidents such as this latest one, indigenous villagers eager for work and anxious to earn money to support their families, increasingly continue to place themselves in danger.

Congo, in central Africa, the largest French-speaking country in Africa with a population of about 80 million, is among the poorest in the world. A Human Development Index created by the United Nations, ranks the country 176 out of 187 countries even though it is home to a wealth of abundant natural resources where gold, copper and cobalt attract the attention of mining corporations from wealthy, developed nations eager to extract those resources.

A copper and cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

Global demand for cobalt is on the rise, and the Democratic Republic of Congo plays a crucial role in the international supply chain, currently producing some 65 to 70 percent of global cobalt. Public sector corruption in the DRC is rampant, a reality that complicates working in that environment for mining corporations answerable to their home countries' expectations that they operate above-board and up to the ethical standards expected of Exchange-listed companies.

When news of the disaster became public, Katanga Mining announced its intention to give assistance with search and rescue associated with the tragedy, noting at the same time that it would not affect its operations and its output. Katanga has reported that up to two thousand artisanal miners daily flood onto its property. The Congolese government recently dispatched military forces to put a halt to artisanal miners entering a cobalt mine owned by a Chinese company.

These large industrial mines are mostly automated. There are few employment opportunities for local people who engage in artisanal mining. Barrick Gold of Toronto, considered among the world's largest gold producers, operates its Kibali mine in the Congo's north where it was expected that  opening the mine would eliminate artisanal mining sites, leading to negative repercussions on local economies. No similar tragedies have yet occurred there.

On the other hand, international mining interests, corrupt politics, and local conditions of indigenous poverty will continue to negatively interact, creating the perfect storm of ongoing tragedies. A new law is being proposed in Canada which, passed, would see new obligations on companies for disclosures on sourcing materials. Additionally, investors demand greater transparency even as artisanal mining becomes the problem of mining companies.

An artisanal miner works at Tilwizembe, a former industrial copper cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At least 43 artisanal miners have died while digging for cobalt, the metal that powers device batteries and electric cars. Kenny Katombe, / Reuters files