MINING

I. Potentials in mineral wealth by province

• The Democratic Republic of Congo is known for its mining potential representing 1,100 different minerals.

• All provinces are entitled to own mineral wealth. The table below illustrates this reality and presents at the same time the different minerals that all provinces of the DRC abound in provinces.

Provinces	Minerals
Bandundu	Diamond, oil, kaolin, clay.
Bas-Congo	Bauxite, pyroschite, limestone, phosphate, vanadium, diamond, gold, copper, lead, zinc, manganese, marble, black and pink granite, rock-salt, iron, gypsum clay, talc, silica, kaolin, baryta, asphaltic schist.
Equateur	Iron, copper and associated minerals, gold, diamond, limestone, kaolin, clay, granite, niobium, ochre.
Province Orientale	Gold, diamond, iron, silver, clay, copper, kaolin, niobium, ochre, asphaltic schist, talc.
Kasaï Oriental	Diamond, iron, silver, nickel, tin, clay, chromium, cobalt, copper, gold, kaolin, talc.
Kasaï Occidental	Diamond, gold, manganese, chromium, nickel, clay, cobalt, platinum, copper, iron, kaolin, lead.
Katanga	Copper and associated metals, cobalt, manganese, limestone, uranium, coal, niobium, gold, platinum, lithium, talc, tantalum, wolfram, zinc, clay, bismuth, cadmium, germanium, cassiterite, iron, granite, gypsum, kaolin, monazite, saltworks, beryl (emerald), sapphire.
Nord-Kivu	Gold, niobium, tantalite, cassiterite, beryl, tungsten, manganite, clay, bastnaesite, coal, granite, monazite, niobium, platinum, wolfram, tantalum.
Sud-Kivu	Gold, niobium, tantalite, cassiterite, sapphire, amblyogonite, argent, argile, bastnaésite, béryl, bismuth, diamante, diatomite, monazite, wolfram, zinc, tantale.
Maniema	Etain, diamant, cassitérite, or, amblyogonite, lithium, clay, copper, iron, kaolin, manganese, columbium, lead, talc, tantalum, wolfram.
Kinshasa	Clay, silica, kaolin, arkosic sandstone.

Source : CTCPM, Guide de l’investisseur du secteur des mines et hydrocarbures, juin 2003.

The geological reserves of some substances in D.R.Congo

N°	Mineral substances	Quantity (tons)
1	Copper	75 000 000
2	Lithium	31 000 000
3	Niobium	30 000 000
4	Manganese	7 000 000
5	Zinc	7 000 000
6	Cobalt	4 500 000
7	Iron (over 60%)	1 000 000
8	Cassiterite	450 000
9	Gold	600
10	Diamond	(carats) 206 000 000

Source : www.cami.cd

II. The characteristics of Congolese minerals are as follows :

• The Banalia deposits have a 65% higher iron content (low content in Si02).

• The ores of (magnetite, hematite, mastitis, goethites) in Katanga have a content varying between 54 and 66% iron and 3 and 21% silica without many impurities.

• Chromium and Nickel have an average content of 1.45% and 3.8% Cr. The lead vanadate deposit has an average ore content of 25-30% lead and 5-6% vanadium, etc.

• Bauxite is located at Sumbi and Sanzala with a content of 48% Al.

• The phospate resources of Fundu Nzobe in the district of Bas-Congo estimated at 70 million gross tons have an average content of 27% P2O5. At Kanzi, the same resources are estimated at 25 million tons at an average content of 17% P2O5. At Vangu, they are estimated at 20 million tons at 22% P2O5.

III. Achievement

The reform of this sector through the opening to private partners allowed the DR Congo to attract several subsidiaries of large multinationals in the world. The success story indicates the presence in DRC of companies such as : TENKE FUNGURUME MINING (FREE PORT McROAN, KOLWEZI COPPER COMPANY (KINROSS-EGMF) KIBALI GOLD MINING Mutanda, ASHANTI GOLDFIELD KILO, Twangiza MINING, etc.

That massive presence has led to the significant increase in the volume of mining production in the DRC from 2006 to 2014 as shown in the table below.

 

Source : Central Bank of Congo, Condensé d’informations Statistiques, Kinshasa, January 2015.

Figure 1 : Evolution of the production volume of copper and cobalt in the DRC from 2006 to 2014

Source : Generated based on the data in Table 1.

Figure 2 : Evolution of zinc production volume, diamond and raw gold from the DRC from 2006 to 2014

Source : generated based on the data in Table 1.

IV. Prospect

• The revival of mining production by existing companies or those to be established to support growth and employment. In this respect, the targets by mining products are as follows :
  • Copper : 500,000 tons in 2011 to 1,500,000 tons by the end of 2015 ;
  • Cobalt : 120,000 tons in 2011 to 180,000 tons in 2015 ;
  • Zinc : 19,000 tons in 2010 to 60,000 tons in 2015 ;
  • Gold : 5,000 kg in 2011 to 12,000 kg in 2015 ;
  • Diamond : 22 to 27 million carats in 2015 ;
  • Coltan : 500 tons per year from 2012 to 2016
  • Wolframite : 1,200 tons per year between 2012 to 2016 ;
  • Cassiterite : 10,000 tons per year between 2012-2016.

• Bring the mining sector’s contribution to the State budget from 9% in 2010 to 25% in 2016 and the contribution to GDP from 12 to 20% in 2016.

• Increase the public and private investment rate in the mining sector from 10% of GDP on average per year during the 2012-2016 period ;

• So to achieve this vision, the Government of the DRC has to improve more governance and transparency in the mining sector management and the traceability of public revenues ;

• For this purpose, it will be evaluated, revised and popularized the Act No. 007/2002 of 11 July 2002 on the Mining Code, set up a national geological department and evaluated the titles already granted in order to improve the mining cadastral file, etc.

V. Legal Framework

The mining sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo is regulated by Law No. 007/2002 of 11 July 2002 on the Mining Code and Decree No. 038/2003 of 26 March 2003 on Mining Regulations.

The new Code has the merit to reaffirm the principle that the rights under the mining concessions are distinct from those land concessions so that a land dealer cannot claim his title to demand any property right on mineral substances contained in the subsoil. Furthermore, the new Code performs a classification of mineral deposits in mines and quarries.

It precises that the President of the Republic may declassify or reclassify a mining substance into quarry product and vice versa.

The Mining Code pursues the following objectives :

• Create a win-win framework for all ;
• Develop and encourage infrastructure for all ;
• Develop human capital of DRC ;
• Develop the processing capacity locally ;
• Develop the DRC as a destination for foreign capital and technology ;
• Encourage the immediate development of the country and not speculation.