Artisanal gold mining in the D.R.C., a hidden face of underdevelopment: the case of the Fizi territory

Abstract

This sector comes in two forms of exploitation: Industrial and artisanal. But what concerns us at present is artisanal mining which is described as the backbone of the economic development of the DRC at a time when the minerals of the DRC cannot be useful if and only if they are exploited for the benefit of the Congolese population as a whole. This is not practically experienced on Congolese national territory while the harmful consequences from this sector continue to increase, especially in the Province of South Kivu. Everyone is aware of the nature of a geological scandal which is recognized worldwide for this space in the heart of Africa and which is the Democratic Republic of the Congo. South Kivu with its eight territories, that of Fizi seems to be among those for which this scandal is confirmed, by analyzing the geological data in the possession of scientists. The province of South Kivu is full of huge mining potential, so mining products are considered the steel lung of its economy. All the mining products which today are traded fairly well in the international trading sphere can be found in all the 8 territories that make up the province of South Kivu. So we find there : gold, cassiterite, diamond, wolframite, coltan, and some precious stones like tourmaline, amethyst... The artisanal mining sector employs thousands of people in the province of South Kivu, both in the process of artisanal or industrial exploitation and in the process of marketing minerals. This could be explained by the fact that the mining sector provides more money and faster than other sectors and there many of the related consequences are experienced. Unfortunately, this money only benefits a small group of people: traders, processors, a few authorities in the country and large buyers located abroad. It should be noted that, in mining sites, the attractiveness of a mining product largely depends on the level and imbalance of its world prices. In 2001, we saw a very sharp rise in world prices for tantalum called the "Coltan boom" and a significant increase in other minerals such as gold and cassiterite which had become more interesting.