Mining in

Democratic Republic of Congo

A Journey to Africa’s Mineral Heartland

TABLE OF CONTENTS
DRC: An Overview............................................p2 This report was researched and prepared by
DRC Metals and Minerals Map............................p6 Global Business Reports (www.gbreports.com) for
Regulations................................................p8 Engineering & Mining Journal.
Exploration and Production................................p11
Katanga Province.............................................p16 Editorial researched and written by Jolanta Ksiezniak
Challenges...............................................p19 and Andrea Stucchi.
Services and equipment supply chain.................p26
Conclusion...................................................p31 For more details, please contact info@gbreports.com.
Advertisers Index..............................................p32
Cover photo: Copper at Tiger Mines located in the
proximity of Lubumbashi. Photo by Jolanta Ksiezniak,
courtesy of Tiger Mines.

A REPORT BY GBR FOR E&MJ

JANUARY 2013
 Mining IN DRC

Democratic Republic of Congo:

An Overview
A new opportunity based on a growing economy.

With an estimated $24 trillion worth of incumbent, Joseph Kabila, winning a sec- Mining Today
untapped mineral wealth in the ground at ond mandate. Despite the continued chal- According to the Metals Economics Group,
today’s prices, the Democratic Republic of lenges of operating from the DRC, including Africa as a whole claimed 15% of planned
Congo (DRC) has the potential to become the physical and institutional infrastructure global non-ferrous exploration budgets in
rich beyond imagination. The country’s of the country and continued civil unrests in 2011. The DRC ranked first in Africa in
mineral resources include cobalt (world’s the eastern Kivu provinces, recently there 2010, only to slip to second place behind
largest reserves, holding more than 45% have also been positive signs. GDP in 2011 South Africa in 2011. Given the difficul-
of overall reserves), copper (world’s second reached 6.5% (a slight drop from the 7.2% ties of operating in the country (the DRC is
largest reserves after Chile, at 70 million figure of 2010) marking 10 years of positive ranked 18th from bottom in the Fraser In-
metric tons), diamonds, gold, zinc, urani- GDP growth, something that has never been stitute Annual Survey of Mining Companies
um, tin, silver, coal, manganese, tungsten, recorded before. President Joseph Kabila is 2011/2012), this is a significant testament
cadmium and crude oil. Yet, over the past implementing reforms and the effects are ob- to the mineral potential the country has.
20 years, average gross domestic product vious: inflation fell from 46.2% in 2009 to The government has yet to produce re-
(GDP) growth has lagged below that of its 23.1% in 2010, and again to 17% in 2011. liable data regarding production levels of
eight neighbors, while total GDP is below The DRC must be analyzed cautiously the various minerals. According to the U.S.
that of its smaller neighbors Angola, Tanza- and patiently by those wishing to invest in Geological Survey Yearbook, the mining
nia, Uganda or Zambia. Today, as always, the country. “Always expect the unexpect- and mineral processing sectors accounted
the country’s true economic salvation seems ed. You must be ready to adapt your plans for an estimated 13.4% of GDP in 2008
to depend, to a large extent, on the success- constantly and you must be flexible. It can (more recently in 2011, the French Ministry
ful exploitation of its vast mineral resources. be anything, from airline schedule changes of Foreign Affairs concluded that the mining
The enactment of Law No. 007/2002 of to bridges dropping on your route. Under- sector in the DRC represented almost 28%
July 11, 2002 relating to the Mining Code standing the challenges and above all un- of GDP, up from 25% in 2010).
(Mining Code) was aimed principally at at- derstanding the people who you are doing Mineral exports were estimated to be
tracting investments in the country’s vast business with is paramount,” said Alex van about $6.59 billion in 2008 and mineral
mineral resources. More recently, the presi- Hoeken, president and CEO of Kilo Gold- imports, $6.71 billion. Cobalt accounted
dential and legislative elections in November mines, a gold exploration and development for 38% of the total value of exports; copper
2011 dominated the political scene, with company with operations in the DRC. 35%, crude petroleum 12% and diamonds
11%. Other notable minerals exports in-
cluded gold, tantalum, tin and tungsten. In
Democratic Republic of Congo and its Regions 2009, the production of refined copper in
the DRC increased by an estimated 247%,
refined cobalt by 106% and mined copper
by an estimated 24%. Tin production in-
stead decreased by an estimated 19%, and
diamond by 13%.
Qualifying the DRC as potentially one of
the richest mining countries in Africa, ana-
lysts forecast that, driven by increased cop-
per production and the development of world
class deposits, the country’s mining sector
by 2015 will double from 2010 levels.
Much of the copper mining related ac-
tivity in the DRC developed around the
towns of Likasi, Kolwezi and Lubumbashi
along the fabled copper belt in the south-
ern province of Katanga. Tenke Fungurume
Mining (TFM), a copper and cobalt mine in
the Katanga province, is perhaps the proj-
ect most readily associated with the copper
and cobalt industry in the country. TFM pro-
duced 127,367 mt/y of copper and 11,182
mt/y of cobalt in 2011, while the operating
partner, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold

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 Mining IN DRC

was expecting 2012 sales to reach approxi- Following in Jinchuan’s footsteps, Chi- rated capacity of the plant. Banro aims to
mately 131,500 mt of copper and 11,300 nese metal and mineral-trading company achieve an annualized gold production rate
mt of cobalt. Minmetals Resources recently concluded of 200,000 oz/y by the end of 2013.
Also in the premier league, Glencore the $1.3 billion acquisition of Anvil Mining. The Kibali gold project in the Orientale
operations throughout the country con- Anvil also mined copper and cobalt at Kin- province is 90% owned by a joint venture
tinue through two joint ventures, Kamoto severe in the Katanga province and under- between Anglogold Ashanti and Randgold
Copper Co. and DRC Copper and Cobalt took copper exploration in the region. Resources, each holding a 45% stake in the
project. Current production levels are at First Quantum Minerals instead was project. Covering an area of 1,836 sq km,
130,000 mt/y of copper and 8,000 mt/y working on a project to extract copper and the Kibali mine is considered the largest
of cobalt with expansion to 310,000 cobalt from tailings of older operations underdeveloped gold deposit on the African
mt/y of copper and 30,000 mt/y of cobalt around Kolwezi. It was expected to produce continent.
planned within 2015. around 70,000 mt/y of copper and around An important addition to the mining
Despite the general slowdown of busi- 14,000 mt/y of cobalt per year and had industry is the role of artisanal and small-
ness caused by the electoral process, spent $750 million on acquiring and devel- scale mining in the DRC. While the nature
a number of transactions caught the at- oping the property there. In August 2009, of artisanal mining makes it very difficult to
tention of the mining community lately. the government in the DRC revoked First obtain reliable information, it is estimated
Metorex was acquired by Jinchuan Group Quantum’s license due to a dispute over re- that almost 90% of mineral production
in a $1.1 billion acquisition which saw negotiating the terms of the contract. Later comes from artisanal miners. Estimates
the flagship Ruashi copper-cobalt project in 2012, First Quantum disposed of its re- vary on the number of artisanal miners in
move into Chinese hands. sidual assets in the DRC to Eurasian Natu- the DRC: 500,000 to 2 million diggers (cre-
The deal was announced early in 2011, ral Resources and settled all claims related seurs) are thought to be actively involved in
when Jinchuan, China’s dominant nickel to its DRC operations. extraction of minerals. “Article 5 of the Min-
producer, added almost 22% to Brazilian After half a century of unrealized poten- ing Code allows Congolese nationals to en-
Vale’s previous offer. The Ruashi mine tial, the DRC’s gold sector is now also on gage in artisanal mining provided they hold
comprises three open pits and a modern the verge of rapid growth. Banro’s Twan- an artisanal miner card issued or granted by
Solvent Extraction Electro-winning (SX- giza mine, became the first producing gold the relevant government entities. The prov-
EW) plant. Other assets owned by Meteo- mine in the country after 50 years when its ince therefore witnessed increased artisanal
rex in the DRC included the existing Kisen- first gold pour took place in October 2011. mining in the last decade and not only for
da mine, the Dilala east and the Lubembe Estimated production levels of 120,000 gold operations like it used to be,” said the
deposit greenfield sites, all located in the oz/y are forecast. In June 2012, gold pro- Provincial Minister of Mines in Katanga,
Katanga province. duction averaged approximately 60% of the Barthélemy Mumba Gama.

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DRC: The Country of the As explained by the Overseas Develop- port networks have been damaged or left
Future? ment Institute in the UK, recovery in 2010 to deteriorate and about half of the existing
At African-focused business conferences involved the same transmission channels as infrastructure assets are in need of repair.
the excitement of businessmen and inves- during the crisis, but in the opposite direc- The country’s vast geography, low popula-
tors is invariably focused on Nigeria and tion. World commodity prices rose again in tion density and extensive forestlands make
Mozambique. Yet the DRC, a country of 2009 and mining companies in the DRC the situation even more complicated.
larger land area and comparable resource responded favorably, although the pace of Nonetheless, for many of the country’s
wealth (even if this wealth comes in differ- recovery has been uneven. Hopefully this international investors the development po-
ent forms), is often ignored. This can largely recovery will produce substantial benefit tential in the DRC remains extraordinary.
be explained by the business environment, streams to the country’s overall economy While some choose other mining destina-
which is considered by many to be among going forward. It is an established fact that tions with lower political risks, most of
the worst in the world (ranked 176th out of minerals have historically been the driver of those that enter the country appreciate that
183 countries in the World Bank’s Doing economic growth in the DRC. working in a sustainable manner is actually
Business 2012 rankings and 172nd out of Nevertheless, as argued by the World possible. Furthermore, the country’s vast
179 countries according to the Heritage In- Bank, there is still an urgent need for an resource wealth and huge energy potential
stitute’s Index of Economic Freedom). enabling environment, strengthening super- represented by the Inga dams, a series of
The result of the global financial crisis visory institutions and good governance in hydroelectric dams located on the Congo
was severe on the mining industry and the order to attract further private investments river in Inga, are all indicative of the fact
overall economy of the DRC. The decline in to the sector. Unfortunately, the country is that the country can finally become a popu-
commodity prices caused drastic job losses. still perceived by international investors as lar mining destination.
According to a World Bank report, between a lawless state plagued by war where doing From a purely mining perspective, its
2008 and 2009, almost 300,000 employ- business is almost impossible. However, vast resource base combined with today’s
ees lost their jobs in Katanga alone. In the while the situation in the eastern Kivu prov- commodity prices render the DRC a very
town of Likasi, it was estimated that nearly inces remains tense, with active militias fo- interesting, yet challenging, proposition for
60 mining companies had closed their doors cusing on extracting minerals illegally and any potential investor.
in the first three months of 2009. controlling parts of the territory, the reality
However in 2010, the DRC economy was is that the rest of the DRC is today largely
already projecting sustained periods of strong at peace.* *Since the writing of this report, militia activity
by rebel group M23 has further damaged the
growth, with national GDP back at 7.2% in In terms of infrastructure, the DRC faces DRC’s reputation. Nonetheless, it must be noted
2010 and more recently in 2011 the coun- one of the biggest challenges on the African that this activity is still largely confined to the
try’s economy recorded a 6.9% growth. continent. Following years of conflict, trans- Kivu region.”

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DRC Metals and Minerals

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 Mining IN DRC

Regulations
A period of transition for the mining sector regulators.

Current mining operations are focused on higher grade reserves at Kipoi Central, producing 35,000 mt/y of copper. Photo courtesy of Tiger Resources.

Like any post-conflict country, the DRC will In an attempt to revitalize mining op- presence, with nine in total. An increased
need time to build an internationally compet- erations and attract foreign investments, level of investor confidence is also reflected
itive enabling environment. Throughout this Gécamines entered into a number of joint by an escalating number of mergers and
process, the government will have to ensure venture agreements with foreign investors. acquisitions as well as joint venture trans-
the enforcement of those laws, regulations Typically, foreign entities acquired an in- actions involving world-class miners who
and tax requirements applicable to the sector terest in a concession with Gécamines re- strive to gain access to the DRC’s rich min-
while mining companies will have to uphold taining majority ownership and today these eral resources.
the principles of good governance. arrangements characterize the local mining
The picture that emerges is that the industry. “You see these types of private- The Mining Code
country has so far been successful in for- public partnerships (PPP’s) all over the The Mining Code was developed with the
mulating the laws and regulations needed world, especially in Africa. The father of the support of the World Bank and is based on
for the sector but less successful in ensur- current CEO, George Arthur Forrest, pro- best practice examples from other mineral
ing the respect of them. The principles moted the first PPP in the DRC, and you rich countries like Chile and Zambia. To-
of good governance are not uniformly ob- can see that all mines in the DRC are now day, it provides a transparent framework for
served by many mining players. Jean-Luc run this way. I think it is a financial model the exploration, development and mining of
Seguin, director and company secretary that is working, although we do face chal- mineral ore resources. However, as noted
of Group Forrest International SA (GFI), a lenges,” said Seguin of GFI. by Simon Tuma-Waku, former chairman of
group of companies and stakes owned by According to Datamonitor 360, in 2011, Kamoto Copper Co. and vice president of
the Forrest family that has been operating at least 25 international mining compa- the chamber of mines there are still enforce-
in the DRC for 90 years, said: “To attract nies were present in the country. Canadian ability issues throughout the country. “The
further investments the country needs a based mining companies had the highest Mining Code that came in place in 2002 is
real secure legal environment and a proper a very good code but it was not introduced
climate in which to do business. There is in all provinces and there are therefore
goodwill towards achieving this, but a lack some problems when it comes to applying
of realization. A lot of the decisions made the code in those areas,” he said.
here are still arbitrary.” At the time of writing, a ministerial task-
force is carrying out a review of the Mining
Mining Market Structure Code legislation. The review is still in its
Throughout most of the 1990’s, the govern- consultation stages and should have been
ment in the DRC maintained majority owner- completed during December 2012. The
ship of the productive sector of the mining taskforce should then report to the national
economy. Gécamines produced most of the assembly before forwarding amendments to
country’s copper, cobalt, coal and zinc. The the country’s cabinet for ratification.
diamond industry was controlled by state There are several speculations on the
owned MIBA, producing approximately 25% type of amendments being put forward and
of industrial diamond output from the Kasaï the consequences for the mining industry
Occidental and Kasaï Oriental provinces. George Arthur Forrest, chairman, GFI. in the DRC. Stevel De Backer, director at

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South African law firm Webber Wentzel exploration or exploitation permit relating
commented: “Nothing has been disclosed to one or more specific minerals. Artisanal
yet, we can only guess, but from what is mining operations are instead reserved for
happening in other countries it is likely to Congolese nationals in special areas des-
be about free carry, tax increases and in- ignated by the minister of mines outside
creased state ownership.” areas covered by other mining rights. As
Perhaps, amendments in this sense regards the management of foreign com-
should come as no surprise. The provisions panies, specific limitations exist which
of the Mining Code were implemented to provide for a maximum rate of foreign
encourage a number of mining companies employees and specific positions that are
to invest in the country and are very inves- reserved to Congolese nationals.
tor friendly. However, this approach also
brought significant losses in terms of rev- The Tax and Royalties Regime
enue. “Now 10 years after its enforcement The Mining Code provides for a self-con-
the code is currently being revised. It is very tained tax regime, which means that only
favorable for mining companies and the those taxes and custom duties provided
fallout for the country in terms of financial by the Mining Code apply to the holders of
revenues is not justifiable. Currently, an in- mining rights. This principle, however, does
vestor has the right to an exemption of taxes not prevent the tax agencies from often
on its imports and its exports. The Mining claiming additional taxes.
Code simply requires the mining operator to Various tax advantages and incentives
repatriate 40% of the exports revenue with are available to private parties carrying on
the remaining 60% remaining outside the mining activities. The profit-based tax for
country. The country is never a winner,” instance is set at the preferential rate of
said the Provincial Minister of Mines in Ka- 30% (as opposed to the 40% corporate tax
tanga, Barthélemy Mumba Gama. rate) and is levied on the net profits from
Under the Mining Code, ownership exploitation. Mining royalties instead are
title to mineral resources in the soil and currently set at 0.5% for iron or ferrous met-
subsoil is reserved for the state and sur- als; 2% for non-ferrous metals and 2.5% for
face rights holders do not own the mineral precious metals.
resources within their surface right area. Recently, the government (with the as-
The code also provides for two types of sistance of the International Monetary
mining rights: research (exploration) and Fund) also introduced a value added tax
exploitation (operation). (VAT) regime at the standard rate of 16%.
The granting of mining rights are based The move was seen as part of a continuous
on a ‘first-come, first-served basis’ with effort to improve the country’s fiscal regime.
the granting of the corresponding mining Sebastien Duchateau, area manager of BIA
right entered in chronological order of their Congo commented: “Thanks to new regula-
filing. With research permits, mining com- tions companies now have to declare what
panies must commence exploration within they earn. The newly introduced VAT sys-
six months from the date the title is grant- tem is really instrumental to this success.”
ed. On the other hand, with exploitation The current speculation regarding the
permits development and construction government’s plans to impose export du-
works must commence within three years. ties (and increase the general level of tax
Exploitation permits are granted to holders rates) are also seen as part of a plan to re-
of research permits who are able to dem- quire mining companies to develop down-
onstrate the existence of an economically stream capacity.
exploitable deposit. Already in 2010, the Governor of the
The Mining Code does not make any Katanga province, Moïse Katumbi Chapwe,
distinction between mining rights that may by enforcing a rule of the Mining Code that
be acquired by foreign parties and those establishes that raw ore should only be
that may be acquired by domestic parties, exported when it cannot be processed do-
except for the requirement that a foreign mestically, suspended cobalt concentrate
company must incorporate a local company exports from the country’s mineral heart-
before it can apply for an exploitation per- land. The ban was seen as part of an effort
mit. It is a further condition that companies to force companies to produce value-added
wishing to obtain exploitation permits must processed products inside the DRC. Today,
transfer a 5% non-dilutable share of their with the amendment of the Mining Code,
capital to the state with the transfer being the main concern throughout the industry
made for free. is that the authorities will see this as an
In the DRC foreign companies are opportunity to increase the general level of
therefore free to apply for a non-artisanal tax rates.

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 Mining IN DRC

“Cultural differences can be overcome”

Interview with Natacha Latere Van-Hoeken, partner, Etude Kabinda

Could you provide us with an over- vestment, but we also have to judge on
view of Etude Kabinda in the DRC? a case-by-case basis whether they are in
Etude Kabinda has five lawyers in Kin- the firm’s best interest. Furthermore, min-
shasa and has recently gained a third ing related investments in the DRC can be
practitioner in its office in Lubumbashi. substantial; it is therefore understandable
Although most of the work relates to Ka- if international mining companies still do
tanga, we really need the Kinshasa office not want to rely on local lawyers, espe-
because paperwork has to be filed there. cially in a country that has had all the
Having a local presence in Lubumbashi problems of the DRC. However, hopefully
is also important, it is always better to this will change going forward.
communicate with clients in person rather
than on the phone or by email. The two How well has the mining code been
offices are closely connected and I tend to implemented?
travel at least once every ten days between The mining code was fully implemented.
offices. 70-80% of the business at Etude After 10 years now, people working in the
Kabinda is mining-driven. mining industry do understand its provi-
Last year we did several due diligence times fined from local authorities and this sions. However, the code has also its
projects; mostly these were for corporate is most unfortunate. weaknesses. Some points are unclear, and
acquisitions, although we sometimes work Labor law in the DRC is also a source some situations are not covered. At the
on due diligence for intended financings. of confusion. It is difficult to dismiss an beginning it was difficult, because people
Our second most important business di- employee – you need a very good cause, had their own interpretation of the law.
vision is labor law, an area that is also which must be documented. You cannot Today, we realize that if parliamentary
important for mining companies. dismiss people for being incompetent, but working documents were available this
must explain how and why he or she was would have helped with the interpretation
In your opinion, what are the most not competent. Failing this employers pay of some of the code’s provisions.
challenging aspects facing foreign up to three years on the last salary, plus
investors looking to work in the all due benefits. That is a considerable im- How do you ensure that you are the
DRC? position for companies, and really some- law firm of choice for international
Until very recently the DRC was neglected thing that investors do not expect when investors?
by the international investors community. coming to the DRC. Language skills are of paramount impor-
Today, in accordance with our revitalized Companies that want to reorganize tance. Most investors are coming from An-
business climate this is changing consid- their workforce have to take into account glophone countries like Australia, Canada,
erably and people are beginning to look at that they are operating under a civil law the U.S.A., England and South Africa. Be-
the DRC with interest. system and that their may be differences ing able to communicate with your clients
Several investors come from Anglo- in our legal requirements. gives you a competitive advantage over
phone countries and therefore have differ- other law firms.
ent cultural backgrounds. This change in Can hiring competent local lawyers At Etude Kabinda we ensure that our
mentality and approach sometimes causes overcome the cultural challenge and recruits have the language skills and we
problems; cultural and language barriers is Etude Kabinda looking to enter ask them to draft in English from the out-
can lead to misunderstandings between into partnerships with international set of their professional experience. We
investors and locals. law firms? are also discussing sending our trainees on
Also the lack of education in the DRC Certainly, cultural differences can be secondment so they can experience new
coupled with the difficult economic situ- overcome by hiring competent local ad- international working environments. How-
ation creates it own problems. Educa- visors. It would be great if internation- ever, being able to communicate with our
tion is a key to development in our world al investors relied more on local firms. clients does not only mean speaking per-
today. Because of the lack of education Sometimes, clients ask us to register fin- fect English and French: it is also means
in the country not all children are con- ished work and we have to explain that it understanding perfectly their needs.
sidered to be literate and this is some- was not done properly. As locals, we are
thing that the country should change aware of the weaknesses in our legisla- Do you have a final message for the
going forward. tion and related problems when it comes readers of the Engineering and Min-
Most of the other challenges facing to its interpretation. ing Journal?
foreign investors in the country are tax Etude Kabinda is not looking for part- Congolese are open and friendly people.
related. The bad interpretation of what is nerships but international law firms have I strongly encourage investors to try and
an already complicated tax regime means approached the firm in the past. Part- understand the peoples’ culture when first
that international companies are some- nerships are great to attract foreign in- entering the DRC.

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Exploration and Production

Key minerals, companies and projects.

Copper is extracted predominantly from open-pit mines in the Katanga Province. Photo courtesy of Gécamines.

The 2.3 million sq km of the DRC make up of conflict minerals such as coltan, cassit- an initial 40-year mine plan has been
one of the most geologically variable coun- erite, tungsten and gold sourced from east- developed based on current proven and
tries in the world. It is believed that the na- ern DRC. The effect of the law had a severe probable reserves.
tional territory in the DRC may contain more impact on the export of tin from eastern In October 2010, the government of the
than 1,100 different mineral substances DRC that was shipped through neighboring DRC announced the conclusion of the re-
and it perhaps should come as no surprise countries such as Rwanda or Burundi, to view of TFM’s mining contracts. Following
that, despite the various challenges, mining processing plants in eastern Asia. Latest of- the review, ownership in TFM was set at
companies are drawn to the country. ficial figures show a little over 1,000 mt/y 56% for Freeport McMoRan, 24% for Ludin
The most active regions for mining ac- of cassiterite – 600 to 650 mt/y of tin being Mining Corp. and 20% for Gécamines. The
tivities are the Katanga province (copper shipped from Goma, North Kivu’s capital Kamoto Copper Co., the other large-scale
and cobalt mainly), East Kasai (diamond), (in eastern DRC) between January and April concern, is a joint venture between Katanga
Ituri in the Oriental Province (gold) and 2011, well below the levels recorded for the Mining Ltd., a company listed on the To-
the Kivu’s gold, tin and Colombo-tantalite same period in 2010. ronto Stock Exchange, and Gécamines.
(coltan). Most of the extraction is still car- Despite these challenges, the DRC will “Tenke Fungurume and Kamoto Copper
ried out by small operations known as “Arti- continue to play an increasingly significant Company are the flagships of the country.
sanal and Small Scale Mining” (ASM). role in the world production of cobalt and The first one is the largest by production,
Mining activities in the DRC have unfor- copper, and to a lesser extent, diamonds, producing approximately 112,000 mt/y of
tunately also been linked to serious prob- tin and tantalum. According to a U.S. Geo- copper cathodes in 2011. Kamoto Copper
lems. Copper and cobalt operations from logical Survey in 2009, the country’s share Company produced approximately 65,000
the southern Katanga province can be of the world’s cobalt production amounted mt/y of copper cathodes in the same year,”
carried out safely, but the situation in the to 40%, industrial diamonds 31%, gem said Simon Tuma Waku, former chairman
north-eastern provinces remains problem- quality diamonds 6%, tantalum 9%, tin 4% of Kamoto Copper Company and vice presi-
atic. In September 2010, the government and copper 2%. dent of the chamber of mines.
banned mining in the north-east in an at- Gécamines also sits on a number of con-
tempt to crack down on illegal organizations Copper and Cobalt cessions in the Katanga province. Its pro-
and corruption. “GFI is currently drawing a Many of the most important mining opera- duction levels peaked at 476,000 mt/y in
business plan to open an engineering office tions in the DRC consist in copper and co- 1986 when the company employed 33,000
in the north-east of the country. We believe balt production taking place in the copper people. However, in 2011, production lev-
there is a lot of business to be done there, belt region of the southern Katanga prov- els were of only 17,000 mt/y of copper.
although of course it is a difficult environ- ince. The belt stretches for 250 km between Commenting on the fall in production Kalej
ment that needs stabilization. I will not Kolwezi and Lubumbashi. Industrial copper Nkand, CEO of Gécamines said: “The main
send teams there if I do not feel it is safe,” production started in 1911 with the Union reason for this fall in production was the
said Seguin of GFI. Minière du Haut Katanga (what eventually collapse in 1990 of the main mine, Ka-
In the United States, the Dodd-Frank became Gécamines). moto, located in Kolwezi. At the time the
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protec- TFM is one of two major copper-cobalt country was also facing a financial embargo
tion Act (Dodd-Frank) requires electronic operations in the Katanga province, in- from Western nations and that placed Gé-
companies to track and publish the amount volving an open pit mining operation and camines in an uncomfortable situation, un-

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 Kalej Nkand, CEO of Gécamines.

able to renew its infrastructure or continue

the exploration program. The closure of the
mine cut almost 25% of the company’s ac-
tivities and affected its revenues.”
Today, the company’s $1.5 billion debt
and drop in production levels are being
addressed through a strategic plan aimed
at returning the company to profit through
increased production and audits of its joint
ventures. More than 80% of Gécamines
concessions are tied up in joint ventures
with various mining companies and Gé-
camines is currently looking to audit its
agreements in an attempt to mobilize rev-
enues.
“Gécamines was hoping to generate
enough money for its own activities and
this was unsuccessful. The initial idea was
to create only two or three joint ventures;
we now have 29 but still did not reach our
goal. We have to audit every operation to
see that commercial activities have been
properly organized and everything done
according to what was agreed. Each joint
venture expressly provides for the right to
audit, so that should not be a problem going
forward,” said Nkand.
Also operating in the Katanga province,
Tiger Resources entered the DRC in 2006
after taking over an exploration permit at
Kipoi from a local company that was in joint
venture with Gécamines. Today, Tiger owns
60% of the venture with Gécamines owning
the remaining 40%.
“Tiger operates from the Kipoi region,
along the Likasi road and is currently un-
dertaking studies to upgrade from a DMS
[“densa media separation”] concentrator to
a SX-EW plant. During exploration, Tiger
certainly had its challenges but was able to
overcome them and has rapidly progressed
over the past five years from first explora-
tion to production”, said Charles Brown
chief operating officer of Tiger Congo.
“Tiger is currently producing a 25-28%
Cu DMS concentrate and 20-22% Cu spi-

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rals concentrate from a feed grade of 4.5- tor in Kipushi where it processes the ores.
8.5% Cu. The company is stockpiling any- CMSK produces around 4,000 mt/y of co-
thing below 3.25% Cu for our Stage Two balt and 10,000 mt/y of copper.
SX-EW operation as well as stockpiling our “The Forrest Group has become an un-
tailings, which would be a very good feed deniable pillar of the Congolese economy
grade for most mines. This will form the and is one of the main tax-payers in the
core feed for the next stage of the operation. DRC (more than $55 million in 2008) as
Tiger hopes to start construction on the well as a major source of income for several
second phase between the end of this year state companies such as the Gécamines
and early next year, with the hope to go into and [the “Societe Nationale d’Electricite”],
operation in 2014. This will initially be a SNEL” said Seguin of GFI.
25,000 mt/y electro-winning plant going up Somika (Société Minière du Katanga)
to 50,000 mt/y once the company has the instead entered the mining industry in
feed for it. All production will be sold on the 2001, when the Mining Code came in ef-
international market.” fect. “Somika started producing in 2003
GFI, through a number of partnerships, with an annual capacity of 300 mt/y of co-
also remains very active within the copper balt, which was expanded tenfold by 2009.
and cobalt sector in Katanga: “In terms of For copper, we also began at 300 mt/y,
turnover, the Forrest Group’s mining activi- but now have annual capacity of 20,000
ties are still the most important. The mining mt/y, 12,000 of which are copper cathodes
companies in which the Forrest Group holds and the rest is copper blister. Somika also
a stake produce nearly 10,000 mt/y of co- commissioned the latest cobalt hydroxide
balt, one sixth of the world production,” filtration system and continuous drier, and
said Seguin of GFI. has developed a high-tech copper electro-
Groupement du Terril de Lubumbashi winning plant. Currently Somika is starting
(GTL) is one of the partnerships owned to look into cobalt metal and better cobalt
by the Forrest Group. The joint venture hydroxide for the finished markets and has
was created in 1997 between OM Group a couple of very good projects where we
(55%), the Forrest Group (25%) and already started producing copper concen-
Gécamines (20%) while Société pour trates. One is the Kisanfu project, a joint
le Traitement du Terril de Lubumabshi venture with Gécamines, where we have
(STL) manages the operating and tech- successfully started a DMS plant that con-
nical aspects of the agreement. Through verts 2% ore grades into 20%. Somika
its furnace, STL processes the slag from aims to sustain the current expansion at the
Lubumbashi’s hill. The furnace is the sec- Lubumbashi plant; by 2015 we would like
ond largest in the world for this kind of to increase production to 50,000 mt/y of
metallurgic activity producing 5,000 mt/y copper. It could be in different forms, with
of cobalt, 1/12 of the world’s production some element of copper concentrates, but
and 3,000 mt/y of copper. most in cathodes and blister,” said Chetan
Compagnie Miniere du Sud Katanga Chug, CEO of Somika.
(‘CMSK’), is also a partnership owned by Finally, Chemaf operates as a subsidiary
the Forrest Group (60%) and Gécamines of Shalina Resources at the Etoile open pit
(40%). CMSK owns a mining license on the mine and Usoke mineral processing plant
Luiswishi’s open pit mine and a concentra- near Lubumbashi. In 2003, the company

Rich copper oxides (seen above) can be found throughout Katanga’s copper belt. Photo courtesy of
Tiger Resources.

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 Mining IN DRC

was producing approximately 400 mt/y of icantly increased the reclamation of copper still has lots of artisanal mining being car-
copper carbonate and 200 mt/y of cobalt and improved the plant’s overall efficiency. ried out with no formal mines, so the geo-
carbonate. By 2011, Chemaf had increased This evolution has been an important step logical potential of Ngayu is similar to Geita.
its production capacity to over 20,000 mt/y in Chemaf’s vertical integration and long- Kilo covers part of that greenstone belt and
of copper cathodes and 2,000 mt/y of co- term objectives to be a leading player in the within the belt we are working on the Ad-
balt hydroxide. DRC. The integration of the entire produc- umbi project which is where we hold our
Grant Dempsey, CEO of Chemaf, said: tion process provides synergies to produce principal license. We also hold seven other
“The long-term objective of the company lower cost cathodes by capturing additional licenses and the potential for extraction is
is to expand its presence in the DRC and value in the production chain. ” very good. These are considered to be the
become the principle producer of copper blue sky of the company as they are in ad-
and cobalt by reinforcing its vertical inte- Gold dition to what we already have. In the north
gration and expanding further its production Rich deposits of gold have been exploited in of the Ngayu greenstone belt we also have
capacity. Between 2012 and 2016, Che- the districts of Kilo and Moto, both located a joint venture with Rio Tinto. Rio Tinto is
maf aims to produce 50,000 mt/y of cop- in the Ituri region of the Oriental province. specifically targeting large tonnage iron re-
per and 6,000 mt/y of cobalt. In efforts to The other major deposits are found in the sources while Kilo is maintaining non-iron
apply sustainable measures the company Twangiza-Namoya gold belt in Kivu prov- rights. We announced our results in January
has engaged in several initiatives. In 2008 ince, also in the east of the country. Re- 2012, with very good intercepts, up to 100
for instance, Chemaf upgraded the Usoke cent gold exploration has also focused on meters thick and with percentages going up
plant to enable copper cathode production Katanga province in the southeast. to 66%. Overall it is a very good and prom-
through solvent extraction and electro win- Apart from the operations by AngloGold ising mineralization project,” said Alex van
ning (SX–EW) extraction methods which and Banro, operating from the Ituri region Hoeken of Kilo Goldmines.
increases output and quality while reduc- of the Oriental province, Kilo Goldmines The Kilo-Moto greenstone belt repre-
ing costs. The circuit for this process was Ltd. (Kilo) holds mineral rights under eight sents a significant opportunity, as it is the
installed in 2007 when Shalina Resources separate exploitation licenses. “The DRC largest greenstone belt to be explored with
bought the Mount Gordon Cu SX-EX plant in is still largely unexplored and this is what the aid of modern exploration techniques.
Australia and re-assembled it at the Usoke attracted Kilo to the country in the first According to a report by the World Bank,
site. The installation of the SX-EW plant place. Our Somituri project covers part of the Moto district has approximately 500 mt
and the application of these methods high- the Ngayu greenstone belt. When compared of gold. In the Kilo district resources are dif-
light the company’s commitment to reduc- to Tanzania’s Geita, Ngayu is four times ficult to estimate but are assumed to be of
ing its footprint and are intended to produce larger and Geita is already very famous for much higher grades than those in the Moto
higher grade copper. These measures signif- having big mines. However, the Ngayu belt district. Gold was first discovered in the

14 E&MJ • JANUARY 2013 www.e-mj.com

Angola river by two Australian researchers who named the area
after the local chief, Kilo. Shortly thereafter a similar discovery was
made at the Moto river, hence the name Kilo-Moto. Sporadic small-
scale mining began in 1905 and mainly artisanal mining has been
carried out since then.

Diamonds
Diamonds are located mainly at Kasaï Occidental and Kasaï Ori-
ental, Katanga, Kivu as well as in the North of the country. With
approximately 150 million carats, the DRC is believed to have the
world’s largest reserves of diamonds. However, in terms of value,
DRC’s deposits come after Botswana’s and Russia’s as only a rela-
tively small proportion of the country’s diamonds reserves (6%) are
of gem quality.
Most of DRC’s production is within the informal sector. In the
eastern Kasaï region, rebel forces hold most of the traditional dia-
mond producing areas. The Miniere de Bakwange (MIBA) is a state
controlled entity controlling about 25% of diamond production in
the DRC. MIBA’s production amounted to about 100,000 carats
per month in 2008. The company closed at the end of 2008 in
an attempt to restructure its operations and as a result diamond
production shifted to the artisanal sector. Recently, however, MIBA
was reported as being close to securing new loans from South Af-
rican state lenders.
Between 1996 and 2003, diamond production in the DRC un-
fortunately contributed to the funding of the country’s numerous
civil wars. Progress was made in 2003 when international certifica-
tion procedures for diamonds were introduced. However, the DRC
still lacks a reliable set of internal controls to ensure that it can
track all diamonds from the mine to the point of export and broader
reforms have been slow and lacked the strong political will to see
them go through.

Other Minerals
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (2010), the DRC also ranks
as the world’s fifth largest producer of coltan and tin (cassiterite)
but was not amongst the world largest producers of tungsten. The
Bisie mines in the Walikale territory in the eastern Kivu region were
the largest cassiterite mines in the DRC producing approximately
7,300 mt in 2008.
The rare earth element potential of the DRC also holds substan-
tial potential; while the 2009 and 2010 excitement over rare earths
has undeniably cooled, prices (especially for heavy rare earths) have
settled to below their mid-2011 high, but well above their pre-hype
levels. However, these minerals are mined predominately in condi-
tions of armed conflict and human rights abuses by the Congolese
National Army and various armed rebel groups, including the Demo-
cratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda and the National Congress
for the Defense of the People, a Rwandan militia group.
In addition, the complexities of rare earth element mining and
the fact that these minerals are often found in conjunction with
radioactive or other dangerous materials, which creates an added
level of concern with health and environmental issues. With the
overwhelming majority of rare earth exploitation in the DRC being
carried out illegally, best industry practices regarding these matters
are nowhere to be found.
In an attempt to crack down on the illicit trade of these conflict
minerals, recent regulations introduced by the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission in December 2010 require U.S. and certain
foreign companies to report and make public to the SEC each year
on whether they use tantalum, tin, tungsten and gold from the DRC
(including certain adjoining countries).

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 Katanga Province
A copper ore giant.

Building up infrastructure in the Katanga Province. Photo courtesy of

Forrest Group.

For one hundred years Katanga’s economic growth was based

almost exclusively on copper mining operations. The province
was known as Shaba, the local Swahili word for the metal.
Today, at least 72 economic deposits of copper and cobalt
and four large mining centers continue to drive local mining
operations.
Between 1911 and 2010 approximately 19 million mt of
copper were produced in the region. Cobalt is also present
comprising almost 34% of the world’s cobalt reserves.
In July 1960, with the support of Belgian business interests
and 6,000 Belgian troops, the province declared independence
as the State of Katanga under the leadership of Moise Tshombe.
Tshombe was known to be close to the Belgian industrial com-
panies that mined the resource-rich province. Without Katan-
ga, the DRC would lose a large part of its mineral assets and
consequently government income. In defense of the decision of
secession, Tshombe argued that Katanga was “seceding from
chaos.” However, Tshombe’s dream of secession ended in De-
cember 1962 when U.N. troops began wide scale operations to
disarm the Katanga forces throughout the province.
Katanga was the most developed province in the nation
and its prosperity was being held back by the country’s con-
tinuous troubles.
Today, better management by the provincial government
relative to anywhere else in the DRC and an intelligent use of
funds has improved the state of the infrastructure considerably.
Katanga’s copper deposits have reserve grades as high as 5%
and this is increasingly attracting international investors. In ad-
dition to Gécamines, 11 foreign mining companies are involved
in the copper and cobalt sector in the region.

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 Mining IN DRC

“Katanga is open for business”

Interview with Moïse Katumbi Chapwe, governor, Katanga province.

Katanga is today one of the most de- nity. We have international banks opening
veloped provinces in terms of infra- branches here and newly built roads. We
structure and level of business activi- also just finished renovating the Gran Kara-
ties in the DRC. What steps have you via, an excellent five-star hotel in the heart
adopted to achieve this growth dur- of Lubumbashi. Agriculture will also be im-
ing your mandate? portant going forward. The DRC has excel-
As a businessman I was only too aware lent rainy seasons and 14 million hectares
of what investors had to experience when of fertile land.
coming to the DRC; corruption and black-
mail were normal routines prior to my ap- What are the main forecasts for the
pointment. My aim was to regain the trust mining industry in the short term?
and confidence of the international com- Before the beginning of my mandate the
munity, but persuading people that the DRC was exporting different commodities
province was worth investing in has been such as copper and cobalt ores. The day
no easy task. I was able to achieve this by of my election I stopped 552 trucks at the
fighting against corruption from the outset border and only two had the governmental
of my mandate. Investors who were not people spend only $11. The majority of our authorizations to export. Today, we are con-
investing in a socially responsible manner citizens are eating three times a day rather taining illegal exports of ores; people are
were also a problem. In some cases mining than only once like they used to. Generally, processing locally and are therefore produc-
companies adapted their way of doing busi- the province and mining companies are do- ing locally. This is important news. It means
ness in the DRC and in others they were ing a very good job. that after years of civil war and the near
asked to leave. collapse of the state, the rule of law is be-
The work of a single province cannot ing enforced in Katanga and the DRC. We
Can we discuss your key initiatives to be enough to support the economy of exported raw ore for years and have earned
overcome some of the mining indus- a country the size of Western Europe. very little. The country was not benefiting
try’s key challenges like the lack of The DRC is still failing in the World from this trade and only importers were.
infrastructure and education in the Bank’s Doing Business indicators. Mining companies must now process the
province? What do you think the government minerals on site and deliver a finished prod-
Lubumbashi was entirely built by Gé- should do to improve the current situ- uct. Today, with this measure, we are con-
camines and was better than Johannes- ation and what is your advice to in- tributing to the stabilization of metal prices
burg back in the day. Following the years vestors wishing to invest in the DRC? on international markets and we are creat-
of war when I was elected my work had to The newly elected prime minister is mak- ing jobs for the local community as well as
be orientated towards rebuilding the prov- ing important changes: salaries of minis- adding value to our resources. Since my
ince. The refurbishment of the Inga Dams ters have been reduced and the country is decision to enforce the rule of law mining
has also been a priority and not only. Go- collaborating with several international or- sector operators have invested substantially
ing forward the role played by banks will be ganizations. The international community locally. In 2013, production levels of cop-
pivotal to the re-birth of province and the should have more trust in the future good per cathodes should reach 1 million mt/y
country as a whole. governance of the DRC. The government’s and in 2015 we should reach 1.5 million
Regarding education, in the 1960s the role should simply be aimed at regaining mt/y. Going forward, the DRC will clearly
level of education was good in the coun- investors’ confidence. become one of the world’s largest producers
try and bad governance from the previous Katanga can clearly be instrumental to of copper cathodes.
regime changed that. Prior to my appoint- the re-birth of the DRC. The Bureau du Gov-
ment, children in schools were sitting on the ernorate in Lubumbashi is open 24 hours Have you got a final message for the
ground and had no desks. Our policy has a day, seven days a week and investors readers of Engineering and Mining
been orientated towards investing in our should come and see with their own eyes Journal?
future generations by giving them a proper the work that we are doing. The readers of E&MJ should trust the mag-
education. This is the best form of invest- Be confident and come and judge us on azine because E&MJ is here to see with
ment that the province is making. Mineral the field. Investors should not be persuad- its own eyes the new DRC. As I already
resources will finish one day and educating ed by the stories of other investors already mentioned, our office is always open. The
our citizens will be important for the future present in the country. We have companies country has unexplored mining resources,
success of the province and the country. The who have been here for a decade advising massive agricultural potential, and a popu-
mining sector can help with the renovation not to invest in the DRC and I am having lation of more than 60 million inhabitants.
of schools, hospitals and also the launch of trouble understanding their reasons. Per- I thank you and wish to tell your readers
agriculture. Just a few years ago 25 kg of haps these investors do not want to face that the time has come to come and see
maize were being sold at $40 while today competition from the international commu- the new DRC.

www.e-mj.com E&MJ • JANUARY 2013 17

 Mining IN DRC

Ritchie Callaghan, managing director of Malabar

Group.

Between 2007 and 2010, the de-

mand for cobalt from China’s fast grow-
ing economy brought investors to focus
on the region’s rich cobalt reserves, in-
cluding some of the world’s largest cobalt
The DRC’s future infrastructure investment needs will not be met by highway tolls. Photo courtesy of
operations. Katanga Province.
Reductive smelting produces cobalt’s
free element and Fondaf (les Fonderies In response to the surge in demand for While the authorities in the DRC con-
Africaines) is a smelter that has been op- copper and cobalt, global production of tinue to try and attract investors to build
erating in Katanga since 1942. Since its these metals has continued to increase on-site facilities for the processing of raw
creation, the company has been smelting exponentially in the region and more spe- ores, it is estimated that the equivalent
cobalt primarily for Gécamines. Follow- cifically for copper, from 343,000 mt/y of over 21,400 mt/y of cobalt were im-
ing Gécamines fall in production, Fondaf in 2010 to 440,000 mt/y in 2011. In ported as raw ores or concentrates into
has been manufacturing anything in 2010, the province produced 94,000 China in 2008. In an attempt to compel
steel, stainless steel and iron. mt/y of cobalt. mining companies to establish mineral
processing facilities, including metallur-
gic plants, to add value to copper and
cobalt concentrates, in 2010 the prov-
ince banned the export of unprocessed
mineral concentrates.
“Today, we are containing illegal ex-
ports of ores; people are processing locally
and are therefore producing locally. In
2013, production levels of copper cath-
odes should reach 1 million mt/y and in
2015 we should reach 1.5 million mt/y.
Going forward, the DRC will clearly be-
come one of the world’s largest producers
of copper cathodes”, said Moïse Katumbi.
The increase in mining activities in
the province is now also working as a de-
velopment catalyst for other sectors, in-
cluding companies that strive to provide
an all-round service for people that oper-
ate within the region. Malabar Group is
an example of a company providing such
an all-round service. “Initially Malabar’s
business grew in cross-border transport
and warehousing functions, one of the el-
ements of which was obviously to secure
goods in transit. We then noticed a gen-
eral growth trend in the Katanga province
and decided to set up Malabar Business
Travel to assist people visiting the area,”
said Ritchie Callaghan, managing direc-
tor of Malabar Group.

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 Mining IN DRC

Initiatives, opportunities and challenges

Interview with Barthélemy Mumba Gama, provincial minister of mines.

What are the main highlights and key Mining is not a sustainable business
initiatives under your mandate? and mineral reserves will eventually
This is my second mandate as Provincial run out. What is the province doing to
Minister of Mines. During my first man- deal with this reality?
date, we ensured the respect of Law No. Mining is not a sustainable business and we
007/2002 of July 11, 2002 relating to the are very conscious of the fact that our min-
Mining Code (Mining Code). The Mining eral reserves will eventually run out. To deal
Code benefited the international investors’ with this reality we are enforcing measures
community substantially, especially in the to build a prosperous future for Katanga in-
Katanga province. The mines here used to dependent of the mining industry. The prov-
belong to state owned companies like Gé- ince is asking companies to adopt new tech-
camines. After the Mining Code came into nologies to treat mineral waste. Today, there
force new privately held companies came are companies like Gitem that can treat the
to the country. State owned companies en- mountains of waste left by Gécamines and
tered into joint ventures and investors be- recover zinc, germanium, copper and cobalt.
gan operating on Gécamines former mineral We are now trying to process low-grade ores.
deposits. There are now several joint ven- erated only by artisanal mining. Wolframite Gitem was set up for the processing of min-
tures in the province. has also become valuable and we expect our eral waste, a technology that greatly extends
The exportation of raw minerals has re- coal deposits in Kalernie and Luena to lessen mine resources.
cently been prohibited. The country was not our current energy deficit. The international Agriculture and mining are now under the
benefiting from this trade and only importers community is increasingly aware of the prov- same ministry to simply the government’s vi-
were. Mining companies must now process ince’s potential. New evidence indicates that sion. Instead of re-investing the profits gener-
the minerals on site and deliver a finished we may also have oil deposits. Katanga is a ated locally abroad we would need to invest
product. Furthermore, mining companies peaceful province and this is important for in our agricultural sector to prepare and en-
were also asked to invest in community de- the overall well being of the business envi- sure our future.
velopment initiatives. This can be achieved ronment in the region. Ensuring that mining companies respect
by building roads, schools and properties the Mining Code’s provision is also impor-
around the mines. We organized a forum Energy remains a challenge in the tant. Now 10 years after its enactment, the
where each mining company presented its province, what are you doing to ad- Mining Code is currently being revised. It is
community development plan. Gécamines dress this issues? very favorable to mining companies and the
is providing electricity to several towns, has Energy remains a problem because of the fallout for the country in financial terms is
built most of our hydroelectric systems in Inga Dams system. These dams have capac- not right.
Katanga and is building large schools. We ity to supply energy to the whole of Africa but Finally, we must ensure the mining com-
would like to reproduce this model through general maintenance work was neglected by panies that were exporting raw minerals are
all our joint ventures. Our idea is that around the previous regime and today they have a now processing those minerals locally and
each mine there are always ways to create a low output. The government must intervene. are exporting the finished product only.
pole of community development initiatives. The situation in Katanga is however very dif-
ferent. The province has its own dams: the Have you got a final message for the
What are the main opportunities for Nzilo, N’seke, Banza, Mwadingusha, Ben- readers of Engineering and Mining
the mining industry in Katanga? dera and Mpiana Mwanga are plants that Journal?
Katanga is known for its copper and cobalt feed the province. These facilities have also Having mineral resources is important but
reserves. These minerals are most popular been neglected to some extent but they are the province must also promote its revital-
with the international community and to- still able to provide energy. Mining compa- ized image to attract foreign investment.
day’s market prices will ensure their popular- nies should not to wait until the authorities Our country has experienced difficult times
ity for the foreseeable future. Today, there is find money. Rather, they should invest in politically and many investors around the
however an influx of investors also interested their maintenance and increase their output world are apprehensive. Today, we are
in other minerals. For example, new inves- capacity. Tenke-Fungurume today is invest- committed to building investor confidence
tors are developing our uranium reserves. ing on the N’seke dam. Sicomines is com- by promoting our rich mineral resources
The province has large reserves of uranium ing to the province and has already included and friendly business environment. Inves-
currently not operated. Our new partnerships in its investment plan the construction of a tors should come and see with their own
could guarantee the security of our sites and new dam next to Busanga. The Nzilo dam eyes, we are committed to supporting the
the export of uranium going forward. We is also being rehabilitated. Our priority going mining industry. By investing in Katanga,
also have other minerals growing in value forward will be to strengthen the capacity of investors will be rewarded with significant
such as cassiterite and tantalite found in these dams with investments from the gov- returns and will positively contribute to our
the north of the province and presently op- ernment and the mining sector. economy and our country.

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 Mining IN DRC

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 Mining IN DRC

www.e-mj.com E&MJ • JANUARY 2013 13

 Challenges
The country’s current infrastructure deficit and
the common misconceptions.

A flatbed hauls an articulated haul truck across a bridge constructed from freight containers. Photo
courtesy of Congo Equipment.

The DRC still bears the scars of civil con- 366-km long and links Kinshasa to the port
flict, political instability and economic ne- of Matadi. The network is only 30 years old
glect and operating from the DRC presents and is in reasonably good conditions. SSNC,
multiple challenges to the country’s inves- on the other hand, operates an extensive
tors’ community. Of the two most important network 2,641-km long and works as the
challenges, the one presented by the state natural transport mode for copper exports
of the country’s infrastructure is the most leaving the continent through the port of
tangible, while the common misconceptions Durban in South Africa.
held by foreign investors, though less tan- The 1970s was the best period for
gible, is arguably equally important. SNCC, achieving annually more than 3 bil-
lion traffic units (a traffic unit is 1 mt trans-
Infrastructure ported over 1 km). Today SSNC is achiev-
The DRC represents one of the largest ing only 200 million traffic units, which is
commitments for the World Bank in Africa. around 17 times less than in the 1970s.
Four projects were commissioned in 2011 “The reduction in traffic units started with
for a total of $410 million. As emphasized the closure of the Lobito railway, in Angola
in a report of the International Bank for (western corridor with a distance of 1,870
Reconstruction and Development, $5.3 km from Kolwezi to the Port of Lobito),
billion a year will be needed over the next where 50% of SSNC’s exports were direct-
decade to rebuild the country. The DRC’s ed, with the remaining 50% going to Matadi
recent infrastructure spending of $700 through the national corridor. The political
million/y, even though representing 10% issues of the 1990s and the collapse of the
of GDP, falls far below the level needed Kamoto mine of Gécamines further reduced
to make an impact over the next decade. SSNC traffic units. A slight increase in traf-
At this rate, more than a century would be fic units was realized from 1995 to 1997
needed to re-address the country’s infra- with a private operator, but since then traf-
structure deficit, an outcome that is clearly fic units were reduced to the current level.
unacceptable to the mining community Today SSNC faces huge operational chal-
and the country as a whole. Nonetheless, lenges with a deficit of rolling stock and bad
according to Josh Foster, general manager condition of the stock preventing SSNC to
of Bell Equipment DRC: “If you come to respond to current demands,” said Nicolas
the DRC with a mindset of self-sufficiency Gregoir, president of the board of directors
and are really organized, it is certainly pos- at SSNC.
sible to be successful.” In 2009, with the support of the World
The country operates two rail systems: Bank the DRC launched an investment pro-
Chemin de Fer Matadi-Kinshasa (CFMK) gram known as the Multimodal Transport
and the Société Nationale des Chemins de Projects (MTP). One of the development ob-
Fer du Congo (“SNCC”). CFMK’s network is jectives of the MTP was the restoration of

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 Mining IN DRC

SSNC’s financial and operational capability. want to attract investments to the country, Plans are currently underway to rehabili-
The financing agreement was entered into our priorities must be infrastructure and en- tate the country’s two hydroelectric dams
in April 2011. ergy. The DRC has the capacity to provide on the Inga Falls, currently operating at low
Total program costs directed to SSNC enough electricity for the whole of Africa,” output. There are also plans for two larg-
amounted to $617 million, out of which said Jean-Sylvere Duga, general manager of er hydroelectric stations, the Inga III and
$244 million came from the World Bank, Aden Services. Grand Inga, which now have the potential
$200 million from the government via a To avoid incurring the frequent produc- to dramatically change the DRC’s and Cen-
Chinese Fund and $173 million from the tion losses caused by power interruptions, tral Africa’s energy supply situation. Projec-
government’s own budget. several firms operate their own backstop tions indicate that Inga III would generate
However, as emphasized by Brown of generators. Peter Malley, general manager 4,500 MW while it is believed that Grand
Tiger: “With new international mining com- of Congo Equipment, said: “Numerous Inga could generate a staggering 39,000
panies entering the market the pressure mines are looking at supplementing stand- MW of electricity.The environment impact
on infrastructure, electricity and transport by generators for power. This is another of assessment study of the project have shown
to support mining in the DRC is likely to Congo Equipment’s major product lines as that there would be no major impact nei-
become even greater. The World Bank is we supply and service at CAT and Perkins ther on the ecosystem nor on the human
providing […] funding to improve the DRC’s generator packages.” factor. Commenting on the country’s hy-
SNCC rail line. This is good but that is only To re-address the problems created by dropower resources, Philippe Goffart, gen-
scratching the surface. SNCC needs a huge energy shortages, substantial investments eral manager of Promines S.p.r.l., a sand
investment so that rail transport can be a in new generation and transmission capaci- and gravel producer which assists with the
viable and practical alternative to transport ty are needed. As emphasized by a report of development of the mining industry in the
via road,” he said. the World Bank, just meeting the national DRC, said: “Development of the country’s
Extending the discussion to logistics pro- power demand calls for the refurbishment hydro-power industry is long overdue; it is
viders, Polytra Transport Engineering and of the entire existing generator stock, plus a fashionable clean power source and in-
Consulting acknowledges the challenges of a 35% expansion of installed generation ternational money is available for it, but
operating from the DRC. Polytra is an inter- capacity to reach about 3,000 MW over- everything depends on the politics of the
national logistics and engineering company all. Developing the DRC’s export potential Kinshasa government.”
with almost 40 years of experience of op- instead would require the installation of a Confirming the government’s intention to
erating in the DRC; the company provides further 7,600 MW and that would entail an proceed with this project, in a recent inter-
an example of the lengths logistics compa- investment of $750 million a year over the view, cabinet director at the DRC’s energy
nies have to go to overcome the challenges next decade, tying up a further 8.8% of the ministry Vika di Panzu said a pre-feasibility
posed by the country’s infrastructure. “In country’s GDP. study on the $8-to-$10 billion Inga 3 plant,
the case of the DRC there is always a vari-
able and that is where Polytra comes in the
picture,” said Geert Van Gansbeke, area
manager for Africa at Polytra. Our work
involves more than organizing transport; it
entails arranging every aspect of logistics,
including customs clearing, warehousing
and packaging.”
Callaghan, of Malabar, a group focused
on providing general services to the mining
community, said: “With so much fluctua-
tion in the market, the amount of products
to be moved varies according to the circum-
stances; for example, at the moment there
are energy issues, so there is less produc-
tion coming from the mines to be transport-
ed into Zambia.”
From an energy perspective, due to the
immense hydropower resources associated
with the Inga Falls on the River Congo, it
is believed that the DRC could potentially
produce an estimated 100,000 MW of
power (by comparison, the entire installed
capacity of Sub-Saharan Africa today is only
48,000 MW).
The World Bank estimates that a mere
2,400 MW of the 100,000 MW potential
has actually been developed. As a result,
power supply in the country is heavily con-
strained and subject to blackouts, placing
major limitations on mining activities. “If we

www.e-mj.com E&MJ • JANUARY 2013 23

 Mining IN DRC

as well as a separate 40,000MW Grand ons by armed mafia groups in the provinces
Inga project, is underway. of Maniema, Noth-Kivu and South-Kivu.
“The top priority is Inga 3, because we The ban was also supposed to put an end to
are in a hurry now due to internal demand. the ‘interference of agents and people exter-
The increase in internal demand is such nal to the services recognized by the Mining
that we need Inga 3 before 2020. We are Code in the mineral substances operating
planning to have it in operation by 2017. and trading circuit.’
By 2014/15 we can start construction and However, news about African conflicts is
I think three to four years later we can start often not reported in its entirety by western
supplying from Inga 3,” he said. media outlets and their real causes remain
misunderstood or ignored.
Unwanted legacy and common The conflicts over minerals in Kivu, for
misconceptions example, are not a new phenomenon that
The DRC is no stranger to violent and pro- began in the 1990’s. Rather, the current
Roger Dixon, chairman and corporate consultant
tracted conflict. Large-scale fighting ended situation seems to be a continuation of his- of SRK Consulting.
in 2003 with the establishment of a transi- torical patterns of exploitation that began un-
tional government, but rebel activities con- der King Leopold II and continued via foreign been significant improvements in the last 10
tinue in the eastern part of the country. The control of resources and politics since inde- years, notwithstanding some of the realities
protracted nature of the conflicts induced pendence in the 1960’s. of internal conflict in the DRC. I have noticed
several investors to leave throughout the Historical references aside, today the a sea-change across the industry in the pro-
years and severely impeded the develop- misconceptions about the DRC held by for- file of international clients coming into the
ment of the mining industry in some of the eign investors are based on several factors. country – it is now attracting the large mining
provinces. The international community perceives the houses, which regard it as being in a post-
President Joseph Kabila on his visit to country, as a lawless state plagued by war war transition,” said Callaghan of Malabar.
Goma on September 9, 2010 announced where doing business is almost impossible. Nkand of Gécamines echoed Callaghan’s
verbally a ban on mining activities that was However, the reality is that apart from the words: “The worldwide perception of busi-
formalized by Ministerial decree 11 days north Kivu provinces where militias are still ness in the DRC is very wrong. If it was so
later. The official reason for the ban was the active, the DRC is today largely at peace. bad, important global investors would not be
existence of links between illegal exploita- Like any post-conflict country, the DRC present here. It is quite safe to do business
tion and illicit trade in mineral resources needs time to rebuild itself and regain in- in the DRC and the international community
with the proliferation of and traffic of weap- vestors’ confidence. “Certainly, there have should come and see with its own eyes the
work that we are doing”.
Van Gansbeke of Polytra added “It is very
important that those who want to invest
find the means to come and see the country
themselves. Many people base decisions on
the information they get from others and this
does not work for the DRC.”
For Roger Dixon, chairman and corpo-
rate consultant of SRK Consulting: “His-
torically, people have come into Africa and
colonized and plundered, but that cannot
happen anymore. As South Africans, we
have a better understanding than the Aus-
tralians or Canadians of what this continent
needs, and this also gives us a competitive
edge in the market. Our experience with
various legal regimes throughout Africa al-
lows us to be flexible and adaptive so that
we are able to not only meet but exceed
the international stipulations and national
requirements. This combination of global
expertise and local knowledge is crucial,”
he said.
As aforementioned, the country’s in-
frastructure has been largely destroyed
during the civil wars and communication
networks seriously damaged or left to de-
teriorate. However, since the general return
of peace in 2003 there have been promis-
ing signs. Privately funded telephone net-
works provide signals to a large part of the

24 E&MJ • JANUARY 2013 www.e-mj.com

Supporting local hospitals is a part of Gécamines’ CSR activities. Photo courtesy of Gécamines.

population at reasonable costs. Already in However, it is estimated that only 1%-

2003, some 16 private operators had been 2% of the nation’s farmable territory has
granted mobile telephony licences and the so far been under cultivation at any one
subscriber base was growing at triple digits time. As regards tourism the government
per year. At the time though the prolifera- is already giving priority to the develop-
tion of smaller networks caused frequency ment of the local tourism industry so that
spectrum shortages, interferences and com- the country can win its share of the mil-
patibility problems. As a result, the mobile lions of visitors each year from around the
sector consolidated and now has four major world that want to experience firsthand
players. “Today the penetration rate of the some of the very special places on the Af-
telecommunications industry in the DRC is rican continent.
around 20%. Vodacom has [more than] 6 The tourism industry currently consists
million customers, but in a country of [more of both local and international operators
than] 68 million people the potential for and the capital city, Kinshasa, is already
expansion is huge,” said Rene’ Monzambe, served by international airlines.
senior executive head of southern region at On-going conflicts in Kivu have nega-
Vodacom Congo RDC. tively impacted on the development of the
Development of the DRC’s Internet and mining sector. Nonetheless, going forward
broadband market has also been held back investors should consider that the DRC is a
by poorly developed national infrastructure. country almost one quarter the size of the
However, today improvements are slow but U.S.A. The peaceful and rich Katanga prov-
noticeable as the country is striving to gain ince in the south of the country is situated
access to low-cost, high quality interna- miles from the areas where the militias are
tional band through a submarine fibre optic still active and is already working as a safe
cable while the national operator, OTCP, is point of access for many of the country’s
busy rolling out a fibre optic backbone net- international investors. Today, it is the most
work with support from China. developed province in terms of infrastruc-
For Duga of Aden “With the new govern- ture and general level of business activities
ment, the country is moving in the right di- in the DRC.
rection but there is still plenty to be done. Moïse Katumbi, Governor of Katanga,
The government should not focus on mining desires to return the province to its for-
only, but seek to boost the field of health, mer glories, as he explained: “The Katanga
education, agriculture, and tourism and have province can clearly be instrumental to the
a clear development plan for the country.” re-birth of the DRC. The Bureau du Gov-
Dunga of Aden makes a good point. The ernorate in Lubumbashi is open 24 hours
DRC has a vast unrealized agricultural ca- a day, seven days a week and investors
pacity. Straddling the equator and spinning should come and see with their own eyes
two tropical zones the country’s climate fa- the work we are doing. Be confident and
vors the cultivation of a wide range of tropi- come and judge us on the field. The readers
cal and even Mediterranean crops. More of E&MJ should trust the magazine because
than half of the DRC’s land is arable and E&MJ is here to see, with its own eyes, the
suitable for farming. new DRC.”

www.e-mj.com E&MJ • JANUARY 2013 25

 Mining IN DRC

Services and equipment supply chain

The nation’s abundant mineral resources and its revitalized business
climate are drawing investors, but lack of infrastructure
and staffing are hindering development.

SRK on site in the DRC conducting a bulk sampling exercise on a kimberlite pipe. Photo courtesy of SRK Consulting.

Until the turn of the century, the DRC was the country with interest. “Big brands cer- and some of the things done by our com-
neglected as a market by mining equip- tainly dominate in the DRC, but as in other petitors, but it is such a vast country that
ment suppliers. Today, in parallel with the countries they operate largely through deal- there are probably things happening that
DRC’s revitalized business climate, espe- erships. The DRC lacks formalized market we do not know about. It is not the biggest
cially in the Katanga province where large research, so it is difficult to quantify the market in the world at the moment, but it is
mining companies are beginning to enter, market size,” said Foster of Bell Equipment. certainly one of the more bullish.”
service providers are also starting to look at “We are well aware of what we are doing, The familiar themes of DRC’s deficits in
qualified labor and infrastructure are some
of the main inhibiting factors on market
growth. “There is really a generation in the
DRC that has not had access to a solid edu-
cational base, which is probably the root
of several problems in the country. I am
not only talking about primary education,
but universities and workplace training. A
problem for many of the companies enter-
ing the DRC is finding quality people,” said
Callaghan of Malabar.
For Bertrand Moins, regional director at
SMT R.D. Congo “There is absolutely no
doubt that the mineral potential in the DRC
is huge and could grow further if the govern-
ment invested even more in infrastructure.”
Andre Bester, general manager of AEL
Mining Services, a manufacturer and sup-
plier of commercial explosives with of-
fices in Lubumbashi, an approved emul-
sion plant and a number of strategically
placed sites in the Katanga province also
describes the challenges of operating
in the DRC: “Some of the greatest chal-
lenges we have overcome is understanding
how to do business in a country like the
DRC and understanding the business laws
of the country. The authorities are strict
and penalties for non-compliance can be
very costly. There are no short cuts. Bor-
der controls are time consuming and re-

26 E&MJ • JANUARY 2013 www.e-mj.com

 Mining IN DRC

quire concise planning in order for us to SMT is the authorized dealer for Volvo’s has the franchise from Caterpillar to op-
make sure we have sufficient stock for construction equipment. The company es- erate in the DRC. The partnership came
our customers. Also, having explosives in tablished a presence in the DRC in 2005. about as a result of Tractrafic’s experience
a war-risk area presents additional chal- “We have a complete range of products of operating in the DRC and Barloworld’s
lenges in terms of moving around different for after-sales, including servicing equip- experience on the mining industry,” said
areas which requires one to have military ment, repairs, spare parts, training of Malley of Congo Equipment. “Congo
escort services at all times. As well, find- technicians and operators and for mining Equipment distributes mainly Caterpillar
ing skilled employees is a challenge and customers we offer local and expat techni- equipment and also rents equipment to
we had to embark on structured training cians on site that are responsible for our mining companies, which pay us an hourly
programs to expose our employees to new after-sales services,” said Moins of SMT. rate. We sell parts, provide service, and
and contemporary technologies that AEL BIA works as the exclusive Komatsu a big part of our success comes from our
uses. The DRC mining regulations are dealer and re-entered the DRC only re- Customer Support Agreements, where we
from 1955 which we comply with in con- cently, in 2011. put people on site to maintain equipment.
junction with South African explosives reg- “BIA restarted more intensive business For maintenance, we offer three options:
ulations, therefore raising the standards activities in the DRC in 2010, generating we can either do none, part or all of it, it is
under which we operate.” approximately $2 million. For the time really our customer’s choice.”
Moins of SMT echoed Bester words: being, in 2012 we have already doubled Also present on the market is CFAO,
“With regards to mining operations, as an this figure so we expect further growth. which in 2001 acquired CFAO Motors, a
equipment provider SMT needs to ensure Approximately 80% of BIA’s business is company working as exclusive distribu-
that we have technical staff appropriately reliant on the mining industry. The nature tor for Toyota, Peugeot, Suzuki and Re-
trained. When we send equipment to a of our business is oriented toward after- nault Trucks in the country. Bell Equip-
large mining customer we cannot afford sales; we have an engine rebuild work- ment in the DRC actually belongs to the
to have machines in breakdown for a long shop in Kolwezi for the old engines to put Bell Equipment Group: “Our single big-
time; the most important factors are there- them back into working conditions and an gest national market is still South Africa,
fore our after-sales services and the train- office in Lubumbashi. BIA provides spare where we have about 34 service centers,
ing of our staff. Our local workforce must parts, workshops and general onsite main- but our network across Africa is fairly
be trained, as their skills are usually inap- tenance for mining companies,” said Du- well developed. Our authorized dealers
propriate. SMT has expat trainers coming chateau of BIA. handle most countries in Africa, but the
from Europe and can also count on trainers Congo Equipment is a 50:50 joint ven- DRC, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique
coming from Sweden and South Africa to ture between Barloworld and Tractrafic and Namibia belong to Bell,” said Foster
improve the skills of our staff”. serving the Katanga province. “Tractrafic of Bell Equipment.
Discussing their work with mining cli-
ents and summarizing the challenges of
operating from the DRC Dunga of Aden
concluded: “Energy is more of a direct
problem for our clients, because when we
work on a site our clients usually provide all
the equipment and facilities for electricity.
However, we are our clients’ business part-
ners and our clients’ problems become ours.
It is important that goods can be exported
from the country; the national railways have
been given to a specialized private company
for improvements. Regarding education, it
is difficult to find well-qualified Congolese
employees. It is my wish to have Congo-
lese working for Aden Services at all lev-
els, but I cannot sacrifice the development
of the company for this. We are committed
to sourcing all our food locally, and have
[corporate social responsibility] CSR initia-
tives where we give seeds and expertise to
farmers close to our camps, and try to help
develop [small and medium enterprises]
SMEs in the DRC.”

Heavy industry and capital

goods market
The capital goods market in the DRC is
expanding and international mining equip-
ment suppliers are entering the market, es-
pecially through dealerships.

www.e-mj.com E&MJ • JANUARY 2013 27

 Roymec Technologies (Pty) Ltd. is an in the DRC look for good workforce and
equipment supply company based in South the availability of parts to hand rather than
Africa. Roymec has mainly been involved technological innovations,” said Duchateau
in the copper, zinc, nickel and cobalt sec- of BIA Congo.
tors, working primarily throughout central Goffart of Promines added: “The DRC is
and southern Africa. “In the DRC we sup- ill suited to computerization; I have heard
plied various equipment to Tenke’s first of an on-board computer stopping a truck
phase including flocculant plants, pin-bed engine from working because, with all the
clarifiers and solvent extraction filters. We potholes, it assumed the driver must have
also supplied the solvent extraction filters to left the road.”
their phase 2B. In addition Somika as well The picture that emerges is that of a
as other projects in the country have been country where the lack of education makes
supplied with our pin-bed clarifiers and the training of personnel an essential ingre-
solvent extraction filters. Mumi is another dient to the successful outcome of business
big client that have bought many reagent operations. “The ex-pats are here to impart
packages and solvent extraction filters from skills and train locals. There is a shortage
us,” said Alan Fanton, contracts director at of skilled manpower, especially diesel me-
Roymec. Fanton assured that Roymec has chanics. The equipment coming out today
good expertise, especially when it comes to is technologically advanced, which creates
solvent extraction filters. “The level of South some challenges. We have just employed
African competition depends on the equip- an ex-pat trainer and built a training cen-
ment. For solvent extraction filters there is ter,” said Malley of Congo Equipment.
nobody locally that has the required refer- “There are various programs we enroll our
ence list to interest Tenke Fungurume; we staff on – it takes between 2 to 8 years to
have a licensed technology from US-based get an individual fully qualified. Employees
Spintek Filtration, which supplies over 70% are individually evaluated and we tailor-
installation worldwide. For pin-bed clarifi- make programs for them. A lot of the basic
ers, there is really only one local and in- training is done in the DRC, but at higher
ternational competitor. Two or three others levels people are sent abroad.”
compete locally with us on reagent pack- Moins of SMT echoed Malley’s words:
ages,” he said. “Operator skills are a key ingredient to the
The presence of major international min- success for our equipment. On some of
ing equipment suppliers ensures the tech- our sites we have over 200 machines and
nological quality of the products on offer. trucks altogether. Whenever a new genera-
However, for a country where finding good tion of machines arrives from a Volvo se-
labor and technicians is a challenge, tech- ries, we have trainers from Volvo in Sweden
nological innovations can represent a further coming to train the operators of the custom-
obstacle. “Our customers have problems in ers on the new features of the machines. It
finding good labor and technicians. They is paramount that our customers’ operators
are therefore trying to avoid technological learn how to use technologically advanced
innovations; rather they want to keep their machinery efficiently to ensure these are
machinery simple, user friendly. Companies used to their full potential,” he said.

AEL Mining Services has an emulsion plant and several distribution centers in the Katanga Province.
Photo courtesy of AEL.

28 E&MJ • JANUARY 2013 www.e-mj.com

 Mining IN DRC

Mining consultants promoting smaller start-ups. Geological Sci- is receiving particular interest in short-term
The recent expansion of the mining industry ences Consultants for instance, is an exam- planning for open pit operations and strate-
in the DRC has attracted some of the world’s ple of a company striving to offer a turnkey gic underground planning for larger under-
largest consultancy firms. SRK, is well es- solution to its clients. “Geological Sciences ground copper deposits. “Interactive Short
tablished and has been extensively involved Consultants primarily offers services in geo- Term Scheduler (ISTS) is primarily geared
in the task of delineating and evaluating the logical exploration, for mapping in the field to the needs of the site-based short term
drilling of the copper and copper-cobalt de- and geophysical surveying, and we also (one day to three months) mine planning
posits in Katanga since 2010. The focus of have mining services. Leonard, our previous engineer and provides the level of detail that
the office’s work is primarily in two fields: managing director, was a mining engineer; is required to produce an operational plan
in environmental and social sustainability, he mostly concentrated on mining matters, through activity based scheduling,”said
and in hydrogeology and hydrology. The en- while I assisted with the geology. We help Dylan Webb, director of strategic develop-
vironmental processes required for explora- exploration companies write technical re- ment at CAE Mining. “Mineable Shape Op-
tion and mining operations are increasingly ports and feasibility studies, and support timiser (MSO) instead defines the optimal
being recognised as vital to the long-term them in all related matters. We work with size, shape and location of stopes for under-
relationship between mines, communities companies from the early stages of proj- ground mine design, using an input of block
and governments. ects, up to the point where they are about model grades or values. The advantage of
“We opened our office here in May to commence mining operations. Writing MSO is that it can rapidly produce detailed,
2010; it was a slow start, but things have feasibility study reports is our most popular optimised stope designs based on multiple
progressed very well. We are in a positive service, with initial geological investigation input parameters including cut-off grade,
cash flow now, which clearly supports our also frequently requested”, said Abiel Kya- mining costs, metal prices, dilution, pillars
decision to commit to this market. It is im- manywa, director of exploration at Geologi- and geotechnical constraints. The stope
portant to note that we offer the same type cal Sciences Consultants. shape mimics what an engineer would de-
of services that are offered by SRK globally. CAE Mining provides practical advice sign by manually creating strings section by
The key project for us is the Tenke Fungu- for extracting value from existing mining section, but in a fraction of the time. This
rume Mine, which we consider to be our operations and potential projects. As de- automation allows many scenarios to be in-
prime client in the DRC. We are involved posits move through explorations stages vestigated and ultimately contributes to a
in quite a few disciplines on their behalf: to production, CAE Mining aims to be rec- robust and well understood mine plan. MSO
environmental, social, geotechnical, and ognized as a one-stop-shop for planning is available as a module within Studio 3 and
water,” said Dixon of SRK. and operations technology throughout the Studio 5D Planner (successor to Mine2-
However, the forecasts of the industry’s DRC. The Johannesburg office of CAE cur- 4D), the industry-leading underground mine
continued future expansion are now also rently serves the DRC where the company design and scheduling tool”, he said.

www.e-mj.com E&MJ • JANUARY 2013 29

28 E&MJ • JANUARY 2013 www.e-mj.com
 Mining IN DRC

Conclusion
A maturing mining market.

The Katanga Province has placed a priority on education, with a new school in Lubumbashi. Photo courtesy of Katanga Province.

The DRC mining market is one of vast po- Promoting reforms will entail engaging possible. With the right business environ-
tential. A variety of mineral resources are policy makers to illustrate what worked in ment, investors will come for sure. Mineral
spread across all of the country, the devel- more mature mining markets like Ghana. resources are sitting underground and are
opment of which will benefit the whole DRC Responsible investors with solid finances, just waiting to be grabbed. Infrastructure
provided such development is well framed good political awareness and a wealth needs to be improved, but that would fol-
and managed. of international experience are therefore low automatically as it has in countries
The country suffers from mismanage- particularly welcomed. “Investors should like Liberia and Cameroon,” said Van
ment and corruption, though improve- understand that working in the DRC is Gansbeke of Polytra.
ments are slow but noticeable. Debt relief
programs from the International Monetary
Fund, the World Bank, the African Develop-
ment Bank and the European Union have
certainly been instrumental to the recent
achievements of the country in terms of in-
flation control and GDP growth.
If conditions on the world markets re-
main favorable, it is likely that the copper
and cobalt output from the southern Ka-
tanga province will continue to increase sig-
nificantly in the coming years. However, the
outlook for gold, tantalum, tin and tungsten
seems to be inextricably linked to the at-
tainment of political stability in the eastern
Kivu provinces and the general international
concerns about the reported use of miner-
als to finance military operations in those
regions. Nevertheless, the future of the
country’s mining industry will depend not
only on the price of copper, cobalt and oth-
er commodities. It will also be inextricably
linked to the role adopted by western societ-
ies and its investors.
Taking into account the 10-year time
frame from initial exploration on a typical
base mining project, if investors are to be
successful in challenging environments like
the DRC, it will be necessary to promote
reforms that affect the economic policies of
the country.

www.e-mj.com E&MJ • JANUARY 2013 31

 Mining IN DRC

Advertisers Index & Contacts

Aden Services........................................p13 Fondaf..................................................p16 Malabar Group......................................p18

www.adenservices.com jsmetalcongo@yahoo.fr www.malabar-group.com
jean.duga@adenservices.com info@ malabar-group.com
+243 99 546 57 67 Forrest Group International.....................p12
www.forrestgroup.com Polytra.................................................p24
AEL Mining Services..............................p27 hdh.gfi@forrestgroup.com www.polytra.be
www.aelminingservices.com +243 99 534 00 00 contactus@polytra.be
+243 99 5366 257 +32 10 23 96 80 +32(0)3 205 05 01

BIA Overseas..........................................p5 Gécamines..............................................p3 Roymec Technologies.............................p25

www.biaoverseas.com www.gecamines.cd www.roytecsa.com
info@biaoverseas.com info@gecamines.cd sales@roytecsa.com
+32 10 47 15 11 +243 23 41041 +27 (0) 11 6562523

CAE Mining...........................................p29 GeSCO Ltd............................................p28 SMT.....................................................p26

www.cae.com/mining www.gesco.co.tz www.smt-europe.eu
abiel@gesco.co.tz +243 81 988 44 44
CAT Congo Equipment............................p22 athanas@gesco.co.tz
rmgoli@congo-equipment.com +255 783939704 / +255 783410463 Somika.................................................p15
bpiret@congo-equipment.com www.somika
+243 99 483 6953 Great Cement Plant of Katanga................p23 info@somika.com
+243 99 290 1400 www.gck-likasi.com
info@gck-likasi.com SRK Consulting......................................p29
Chemaf.................................................p14 +243 971 025 136 www.srk.co.za
www.shalinaresources.com +27(0) 11 441 1111
shiraz@shalina.com Grand Karavia Hotel...............................p30
1@grandkaraviahotel.com Tiger Resources Ltd..................................p4
Demimpex Equipment.............................p31 +243 (0)81 558 3058 www.tigerresources.com.au
www.demimpex-equipment.com nryan@tigerez.com
Katanga Province...................................p20 +61 (3) 9622 2159
www.katanga.cd +61 (0) 420 582 887

GBR would like to thank

Thierry Naweji Kankwala,
chair of the SA DRC
Chamber of Commerce.

32 E&MJ • JANUARY 2013 www.e-mj.com