 | |
| Private | |
| Founded | 1922 |
| Founder | Malta Forrest |
Key people | George Forrest, Owner and Chairman |
The Forrest Group (also Groupe Forrest) is a group of companies founded around the mining industry in 1922. As of 2018, the Forrest Group is active primarily in Central and East Africa. [1] It is owned by George Arthur Forrest, a Belgian entrepreneur of New Zealand descent. [1]
Malta Forrest launched l'Entreprise Générale Malta Forrest (EGMF), a transport company, in 1922, in Katanga Province in the south of the Belgian Congo. [2] [3] In 1933, the company moved into mining gold, copper and manganese in the Kolwezi, Musonoi and Kasekelesa mines. [3] In 1951, the company undertook the mining and civil engineering works to open the Kisenge manganese mine. [3] In the early 1950s, it broadened out into public works and civil engineering, building the roads, sewerage system and airport for the mining city of Kolwezi. [3] Around this time, the firm began to focus on civil engineering in the western Katanga copper belt. [4]
Victor Eskenazi-Forrest, Malta Forrest’s adoptive son, helped his father to manage the company starting in 1954, and took over the company with George Arthur Forrest after the death of the founder. [3] In 1968, the company took limited liability status.[ citation needed ] It was then involved in a series of large scale public works projects funded by international organizations such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank. Malta Forrest died in 1974, and Victor Eskenazi-Forrest and George Arthur Forrest, the founder's son, became Managing Directors. In 1986, after the death of Victor Eskenazi Forrest, George Arthur Forrest took full control. [4]
The company undertook a major government contract to restore the road network in Lubumbashi, Likasi, Kolwezi and Kalemie. In 1990 EGMF undertook a large strip mining work for the state-controlled mining company Gécamines. In 1991 the country, now called Zaire, went through political upheaval and fell into a prolonged recession, bring the engineering works to a halt. In May 1995 EGMF helped fund Gécamines in mining the cobalt deposit of Kasombo 1, working as a private sector partner to the state-owned company. George Forrest created the George Forrest International Group that year. [4]
The Forrest Group today includes "Malta Forrest", "George Forrest International S.A.", etc. The companies consist of diverse industrial activities, including wind power energy, hydroelectric energy, mining & metallurgy, cement manufacturing, public works, civil engineering, biological food, aviation, and munitions manufacturing. [5]
In 2002, a United Nations panel named the George Forrest Group as one of 29 companies that should face sanctions for their operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [6]
In December 2010, WikiLeaks published cables that alleged showed that US officials were ignoring reports of dangerously high levels of radiation at Forrest's Luiswishi Mine, and implied that uranium was being separated from the ore which purportedly held only copper and cobalt. [7] Groupe Forrest International refuted these rumors, saying that although uranium was present in the copper and cobalt ore from the mine, it was at far too low a grade to be exploited, and radioactivity in the Luiswishi mine was largely lower than the European standards. [8]
In 2009, Forrest invested in Korongo Airlines, together with Brussels Airlines and local investors, for flights between Lubumbashi and Kinshasa.[ citation needed ] The launch of other domestic services under the Forrest Group brand depended on upgrades to airport infrastructure. [9]
Katanga was one of the four large provinces created in the Belgian Congo in 1914. It was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into the Tanganyika, Haut-Lomami, Lualaba and Haut-Katanga provinces. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was Shaba Province.
Lubumbashi is the second-largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the country's southeasternmost part, along the border with Zambia. The capital and principal city of the Haut-Katanga Province, Lubumbashi is the center of mining in the region, acting as a hub for many of the country's largest mining companies. No definite population figures are available, but the city is estimated to be home to around 1.5 million people.
La Générale des Carrières et des Mines (Gécamines) is a Congolese commodity trading and mining company headquartered in Lubumbashi, in the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is a state-controlled corporation founded in 1966 and a successor to the Union Minière du Haut Katanga. Gecamines is engaged in the exploration, research, exploitation and production of mineral deposits including copper and cobalt.
Katanga Mining Ltd is a mining company operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with its headquarters in Canada. Katanga Mining operates a major mine complex in the Congo's Katanga Province, producing refined copper and cobalt. It claims to have the "potential of becoming Africa's largest copper producer and the world's largest cobalt producer." Katanga paid US$452 million in cash to Nikanor shareholders. In January 2008 Nikanor was merged into Katanga Mining. Katanga Mining Ltd is 86% owned by Swiss commodity trader Glencore. Canada required a $20 million fine from the company in 2019 due to unclear relationship with the Congolese authorities.
Anvil Mining is a copper producer that has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since 2002. The company headquarters are in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Anvil is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Australian Stock Exchange. As of September 2011 its major shareholder was Trafigura Beheer.
Copper mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo mainly takes place in the Copper Belt of the southern Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Musonoi mine is a set of open-cut pits near Kolwezi from which copper and other metals have been extracted since the 1940s. The mining complex is located in the Lualaba Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kolwezi is about 320 kilometres (200 mi) northwest from Lubumbashi, the provincial capital.
The Kolwezi tailings project is a major project in the Kolwezi mining area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to recover copper from the tailings, or processed ore, from mining in the region since the 1950s. The project was developed by the Canadian mining companies Adastra Minerals and then First Quantum Minerals between 2004 and 2009, when the DRC government revoked First Quantum's license.
Tilwezembe is an open-pit copper and cobalt mine in Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo operated by Katanga Mining, a subsidiary of Glencore.
Mutoshi Mine is a copper mine in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. As of 2011 it was 70% owned by Anvil Mining and 30% by the state-owned Gécamines. The mine was placed on care and maintenance in late 2008.
The Etoile Mine is an open-pit copper mine on the outskirts of Lubumbashi in Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Chemaf owns the license. Chemaf is 95% owned by Shalina Resources and 5% by the DRC government.
Mashamba East is an open pit copper mine near to Kolwezi in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, currently not being actively worked.
Luishia mine was an open pit copper and cobalt mine in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. A concession to the south of the mine has recently been opened to exploitation.
The Luiswishi mine is an open cut copper and cobalt mine in Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Kalukundi Mine is a copper and cobalt mine being developed in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by Africo Resources, a Canadian company. In September 2008 the company estimated the value of the resource as $1.47 billion.
George Arthur Forrest is a Belgian entrepreneur, owner of the Forrest Group, a group of companies founded in the Belgian Congo in 1922 and active in wind power and hydroelectric energy, construction, mines and metallurgy, biological food and aviation. He has been described as a philanthropic employer. Forrest is reported to be one of the richest men in Congo.
Nikanor plc was a publicly quoted holding company for Global Enterprises Corporate (GEC) with assets in the rich Copperbelt region in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The Kananga Mine is an open pit copper mine near Kolwezi in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Sodimico is a state-owned mining company in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The Mutanda Mine is an open-pit copper mine in the Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is closed between 2020 to 2022.