Miners face challenges in war-ravaged DRC

RUASHI TOWNSHIP – Ruashi Mining brought reliable water and electricity to the poor town near its copper mine in war-ravaged DRC, but tackling social problems like illegal child miners is posing a tougher challenge.

Ruashi, a unit of South Africa’s Metorex, started mining in Democratic Republic of Congo’s southeastern mineral heartland of Katanga last month. It hopes to extract 1 100 tonnes of copper and 100 tonnes of cobalt each month by October.When it bought the mine, Ruashi, like other companies in Katanga, inherited the dilemma of artisanal miners, many of them children providing much-needed money for poor families.Tens of thousands of people in Katanga scratch a living as illicit miners, often selling their ore illegally to shadowy middlemen who smuggle it across the border to Zambia.But their livelihoods have been threatened by an influx of big mining firms, like Metorex, Canada’s First Quantum and US giant Phelps Dodge.Foreign miners have ventured into Congo, predicting a boom fuelled by record prices and the hopes of peace.In July, the country held its first free elections in 40 years, a vote meant to cement peace after a five-year war which killed around four million people, mainly from hunger and disease.But violence still hobbles some ventures.Australia’s Anvil Mining faced rioting in April when it removed illegal miners from its site at Kolwezi, northern Katanga.In early September, riots erupted near Ruashi’s mine when Indian-owned firm Chemaf drove illegal miners from its property.Ruashi has chosen not to eject its artisanal miners.Instead it issued identity cards, trying to ensure no children entered the fenced-off mine.”We do not condone child labour and we have taken strong actions against those organisations using it,” said Chief Operations Director Grant Dempsey.”We are still buying ore at the site to minimise the social impact of the mine …We don’t make any money from artisanal ore.In fact, we are making quite a big loss buying the cobalt.”The South African miner is mainly processing ore stockpiled in giant heaps at Ruashi by the former operator.But when these supplies run out in roughly a year, it will start mining the deposit with heavy machinery, forcing the ad-hoc miners to move.CHILD BREADWINNERS Toiling with pickaxes in the cratered surface of the mine, scores of artisanal workers shift tonnes of ore.Ruashi Mining has not been able to completely eliminate child miners here: even when they are evicted, they return.”From my information, there are still children at the site,” said Raf Costermans of Belgian non-governmental organisation Groupe One.”It is a tough problem for Ruashi Mining.They don’t want the children on the site, but they bought this mine with the problem already there.”Groupe One is running a project, with financing from the Belgian state, to pay for schooling for some 250 child miners under the age of 15 in the area.It is seeking sustainable employment for the same number aged between 15 and 18.According to a study by Groupe One and U.N.child agency UNICEF, around 40 percent of the child miners work part-time while going to school.Of the remainder, many are sole breadwinners after the death or departure of their fathers.Many artisanal miners complain that foreign companies are stealing their lands and taking almost all the profits overseas, under excessively favourable contracts signed by former President Laurent Kabila’s government.But with the economy ravaged by a decades of intermittent conflict, Katanga is in desperate need of formal investment to generate wealth and jobs, Costermans said.”You need to restart the formal sector.At the moment we have Chinese and Indian adventurers who buy ore direct from artisanal miners, but make no investment,” he said.”Big companies have to obey stock market rules on social spending.”Ruashi currently employs 146 Congolese in its workforce of 150 people, and this is set to more than double in the second phase of the project when ore production is due to rise to 45 000 tonnes of copper and 3 500 tonnes of cobalt a year.Manual jobs, such as clearing scrub and digging trenches, are given to artisanal miners, Dempsey said.DIFFICULT ENVIRONMENT There are other ethical dilemmas for mining companies in Katanga, where militia groups still prowl.Anvil’s operations in Congo were hit by controversy last year when it admitted its vehicles and aircraft were used to help move troops for a military operation that led to the killing of dozens of civilians in late 2004.The company rejected as “deplorable and without foundation” accusations that it shared blame for the operation, but said it had “had no option but to agree to the request, made by the military of the lawful government”.Despite the risks, with copper prices at more than US$7 000 per tonne, Ruashi is a profitable venture and the company aims to start construction of a refinery on the site next month.But it is conscious of the needs of the surrounding population.”We believe we have got to put something back into the community here because if they don’t flourish, then we don’t flourish,” said Dempsey.The mining company has installed an electricity transformer in Ruashi township, giving more than half the capacity to the 175 000-strong community.That ensured reliable power for the first time, allowing the supply of pumped drinking water.”Since their arrival, Ruashi mining has greatly helped us, especially with social projects”, said mayor Stella Ilunga Tshingwel.”We would like more investors like Ruashi mining.”Nampa-ReutersIt hopes to extract 1 100 tonnes of copper and 100 tonnes of cobalt each month by October.When it bought the mine, Ruashi, like other companies in Katanga, inherited the dilemma of artisanal miners, many of them children providing much-needed money for poor families.Tens of thousands of people in Katanga scratch a living as illicit miners, often selling their ore illegally to shadowy middlemen who smuggle it across the border to Zambia.But their livelihoods have been threatened by an influx of big mining firms, like Metorex, Canada’s First Quantum and US giant Phelps Dodge.Foreign miners have ventured into Congo, predicting a boom fuelled by record prices and the hopes of peace.In July, the country held its first free elections in 40 years, a vote meant to cement peace after a five-year war which killed around four million people, mainly from hunger and disease.But violence still hobbles some ventures.Australia’s Anvil Mining faced rioting in April when it removed illegal miners from its site at Kolwezi, northern Katanga.In early September, riots erupted near Ruashi’s mine when Indian-owned firm Chemaf drove illegal miners from its property.Ruashi has chosen not to eject its artisanal miners.Instead it issued identity cards, trying to ensure no children entered the fenced-off mine.”We do not condone child labour and we have taken strong actions against those organisations using it,” said Chief Operations Director Grant Dempsey.”We are still buying ore at the site to minimise the social impact of the mine …We don’t make any money from artisanal ore.In fact, we are making quite a big loss buying the cobalt.”The South African miner is mainly processing ore stockpiled in giant heaps at Ruashi by the former operator.But when these supplies run out in roughly a year, it will start mining the deposit with heavy machinery, forcing the ad-hoc miners to move.CHILD BREADWINNERS Toiling with pickaxes in the cratered surface of the mine, scores of artisanal workers shift tonnes of ore.Ruashi Mining has not been able to completely eliminate child miners here: even when they are evicted, they return.”From my information, there are still children at the site,” said Raf Costermans of Belgian non-governmental organisation Groupe One.”It is a tough problem for Ruashi Mining.They don’t want the children on the site, but they bought this mine with the problem already there.”Groupe One is running a project, with financing from the Belgian state, to pay for schooling for some 250 child miners under the age of 15 in the area.It is seeking sustainable employment for the same number aged between 15 and 18.According to a study by Groupe One and U.N.child agency UNICEF, around 40 percent of the child miners work part-time while going to school.Of the remainder, many are sole breadwinners after the death or departure of their fathers.Many artisanal miners complain that foreign companies are stealing their lands and taking almost all the profits overseas, under excessively favourable contracts signed by former President Laurent Kabila’s government.But with the economy ravaged by a decades of intermittent conflict, Katanga is in desperate need of formal investment to generate wealth and jobs, Costermans said.”You need to restart the formal sector.At the moment we have Chinese and Indian adventurers who buy ore direct from artisanal miners, but make no investment,” he said.”Big companies have to obey stock market rules on social spending.”Ruashi currently employs 146 Congolese in its workforce of 150 people, and this is set to more than double in the second phase of the project when ore production is due to rise to 45 000 tonnes of copper and 3 500 tonnes of cobalt a year.Manual jobs, such as clearing scrub and digging trenches, are given to artisanal miners, Dempsey said.DIFFICULT ENVIRONMENT There are other ethical dilemmas for mining companies in Katanga, where militia groups still prowl.Anvil’s operations in Congo were hit by controversy last year when it admitted its vehicles and aircraft were used to help move troops for a military operation that led to the killing of dozens of civilians in late 2004.The company rejected as “deplorable and without foundation” accusations that it shared blame for the operation, but said it had “had no option but to agree to the request, made by the military of the lawful government”.Despite the risks, with copper prices at more than US$7 000 per tonne, Ruashi is a profitable venture and the company aims to start construction of a refinery on the site next month.But it is conscious of the needs of the surrounding population.”We believe we have got to put something back into the community here because if they don’t flourish, then we don’t flourish,” said Dempsey.The mining company has installed an electricity transformer in Ruashi township, giving more than half the capacity to the 175 000-strong community.That ensured reliable power for the first time, allowing the supply of pumped drinking water.”Since their arrival, Ruashi mining has greatly helped us, especially with social projects”, said mayor Stella Ilunga Tshingwel.”We would like more investors like Ruashi mining.”Nampa-Reuters