Tilwezembe

Last updated
Tilwezembe
Location
Democratic Republic of the Congo adm location map.svg
Schlaegel und Eisen nach DIN 21800.svg
Tilwezembe
Province Lualaba Province
Country Democratic Republic of the Congo
Coordinates 10°47′58″S25°41′32″E / 10.799405°S 25.692333°E / -10.799405; 25.692333 Coordinates: 10°47′58″S25°41′32″E / 10.799405°S 25.692333°E / -10.799405; 25.692333
Production
ProductsCopper, Cobalt
History
Closed2008 (officially)
Owner
Company Glencore (75%)
Gécamines (25%)
Website www.katangamining.com

Tilwezembe is an open-pit copper and cobalt mine in Lualaba Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo owned by Katanga Mining, a subsidiary of Glencore. Officially, Glencore has shuttered the mine, but the site is still being used by artisinal miners.

Contents

Original mine

The mine covers an area of 7.64 square kilometres (2.95 sq mi). It has an indicated nine million tonnes of ore with 1.89% copper and 0.60% cobalt. Mining in the Tilwezambe pit has taken place off and on since 1999. At first this was done by the state-owned Gécamines using contract labor.

In March 2004, Dan Gertler International and Beny Steinmetz Global founded a firm named Global Enterprises Corporate (GEC). In May 2004 GEC signed a preliminary agreement with Gécamines, finalized in September that year, to rehabilitate and operate the Kananga and Tilwezembe mines. The deal was ratified by presidential decree. [1] In January 2008 Katanga Mining finalized acquisition of Nikanor PLC for $452m. [2] A joint venture of Katanga Mining (75%) and Gécamines (25%), named DRC Copper and Cobalt Project SARL (DCP SARL) began mining in 2007. [3] In November 2008, Katanga Mining said they had temporarily suspended mining and ore processing at the Kolwezi concentrator due to the depressed price of cobalt. [4]

Activity since official closure

Around 2010, after the mine was officially shuttered, artisanal miners took over. Sixty miners died there in 2011. [5]

An April 2012 BBC Panorama investigation filmed conditions at the mine, finding some workers there as young as 10. [6] [5] [3] In response to the allegations, Glencore denied any association with the operations on their property, claiming that they make efforts to avoid processing material sourced from artisanal mining. [7]

According to a 2013 report from Amnesty International, the Lebanese company Misa mining was granted permission by local authorities to manage the site in October 2010, and acted as the sole purchaser of ore from artisanal miners. [8] According to miners at Tilwezembe, miners are not allowed to bring ore outside of the site, under threat of physical violence. [9] The ore is then packaged and resold to another company, the Lebanese Bazano Group. [10] [11]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Barry Sergeant (3 Apr 2007). "Nikanor's DRC mining contract quandary". Archived from the original on 21 November 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  2. ↑ "History". Katanga Mining. Archived from the original on 2011-11-10. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  3. 1 2 "An Independent Technical Report on the Material Assets of Katanga Mining Limited..." (PDF). SRK Consulting. 17 March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 May 2012. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
  4. ↑ "Kolwezi Concentrator Update" (PDF). Katanga Mining. November 21, 2008. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
  5. 1 2 John Sweeney (14 April 2012). "Mining giant Glencore accused in child labour and acid dumping row: London-listed company denies polluting river in Congo and profiting from children working underground". The Guardian.
  6. ↑ Sweeney, John (2012-04-16). "Panorama questions over Glencore mines". BBC News. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  7. ↑ Glencore (2012-04-16). "Glencore Response to BBC Panorama Broadcast" (PDF). Retrieved 2022-06-11.
  8. ↑ Amnesty International (2013-06-01). "[PDF] Profits and loss - Mining and human rights in Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo". Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  9. ↑ NKUMBA, Emmanuel Umpula (2020-06-19). "How to Reduce Conflicts Between Mining Companies and Artisanal Miners in the Province of Lualaba: Overcoming the Policy and Systemic Barriers to a Model that Respects Human Rights". Business and Human Rights Journal. Cambridge University Press (CUP). 5 (2): 296–302. doi:10.1017/bhj.2020.15. ISSN   2057-0198.
  10. ↑ Chantal Peyer and François Mercier (2012). "Glencore in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Profit Before Human Rights and the Environment" (PDF). CIDSE. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  11. ↑ Slater, Emma (2012-04-16). "Digging the dirt: Glencore linked to alleged 'child labour'". The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (en-GB). Retrieved 2022-08-04.
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