Kilo-Moto is a region in the far northeast corner of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

(DRC) where gold was discovered in the

Ituri River The Ituri River ( French: ''Rivière Ituri'') is a river of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the main tributary of the Aruwimi River, which forms where the Ituri meets the Nepoko River. It gives its name to Ituri Province. Course The I ...

by government prospectors in 1903. Moto is in the

Haut-Uélé Haut-Uélé (French for "Upper Uélé") is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Haut-Uélé, Bas-Uélé, Ituri, and Tshopo provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the forme ...

Province and Kilo in the

Ituri Province Ituri Province ( in Swahili) is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Ituri, Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele, and Tshopo provinces are the result of the subdividing of the former Orientale ...

Location

Kilo Moto is a semi-continuous

greenstone belt Greenstone belts are zones of variably metamorphosed mafic to ultramafic volcanic sequences with associated sedimentary rocks that occur within Archaean and Proterozoic cratons between granite and gneiss bodies. The name comes from the green h ...

in the northeast of the DRC. In the northern part, the Moto Goldmines project has an aggregate lease area of , with most activity centered on a area around the old

Durba Dubra (Oromo: "virgin") is a town in central Ethiopia. Located in the Oromia Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne, about 70 km north of Addis Ababa, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 2450 meters above sea level. The ...

gold mine. It is possible that as much as 25.7m ounces of gold are present. In the center is the Zani-Kodo area. To the south is the Mongbwalu field, a concession to the north and east of

Bunia Bunia is the capital Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, city of Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It was part of the Orientale Province until that province's dissolution. It lies at an elevation of on a ...

that is mainly owned by

AngloGold Ashanti AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a South African gold mining company, with global operations. With a diverse portfolio of cooperation, projects, and exploration activities, AngloGold Ashanti was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the ...

with the DRC parastatal ''Office des Mines de Kilo Moto'' (OKIMO) holding a 13.78% interest.

Colonial period

The

Kilo Kilo may refer to: *kilo- (k-), a metric prefix denoting a factor of 103 *Kilogram (kg), a metric unit of mass Music *Kilo, a funk/R&B band from Bloomington/Indianapolis/Indiana *KILO, a Colorado radio station *''El Kilo'', a 2005 album by th ...

mine was opened in 1905 and the Moto mine in 1911. Gold was also extracted by panning the river gravels. In 1919 the government created the ''Régie Industrielle des Mines de Kilo-Moto'', an autonomous body. In 1926 the Régie was converted into a commercial company, the Société des Mines d’Or de Kilo-Moto. Hydroelectric stations were built to power the crushing plants, and by 1930 the two mines, but mostly Kilo, were producing almost annually. During the 1950s and 1960s Belgian charter companies extracted over 3m ounces from a total recorded 11m ounces of gold from hard-rock mines in the Kilo Moto belt. Mining included a mixture of alluvials and shallow oxide pits. There were also underground industrial mines near

Mongbwalu Mongbwalu is a small town in the Djugu Territory of the Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. History Before the Belgians arrived in the region the local Banyali people used gold to make jewellery, but otherwise did not see th ...

, namely Adidi, Senzere and Makala. The

became independent in 1960 and the company was nationalised without compensation in 1967.

Post-colonial developments

As of 2011, Rio Tinto Mining and Exploration was in a joint venture with Kilo Goldmines, a Canadian company, to develop properties in the vicinity of

Isiro Isiro () is the capital of Haut-Uele Province in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It lies between the Tropical rainforest, equatorial forest and the savannah and its main resource is coffee. Isiro's population is est ...

and

Mambasa Mambasa is a town in the Ituri Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the headquarters of Mambasa Territory. Geography Mambasa is a locality located on national road number 4 (RN4) 174 km west of the provincial capital Bunia Buni ...

. Kilo Goldmines was also active in a joint venture with Somituri sprl, a local company, in exploiting properties in the territories of

and Wamba near the village of Nia Nia. Colonial mines produced gold in this area from the 1920s until 1958. OKIMO held a 10% interest in a joint venture between

and Randgold in the

Kibali Gold Mine The Kibali Gold Mine is a combined open pit and underground gold mine in the Haut-Uélé province of the northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo. By area, it is one of the largest in Africa. The mine is named for the nearby Kibali River. Loca ...

which the Randgold CEO has called the largest gold mine in Africa outside of South Africa. The partners had acquired the former owner

Moto Gold Mines Gold deposits at Moto were initially discovered in 1903 and mining began in 1905. A colonial state corporation called Kilo-Moto exploited the deposits from 1905 to 1919. The colonial state recruited laborers from rural Africa to work in the mines. ...

in October 2009.

References

{{reflist , refs= {{cite journal , jstor=3171617 , journal=History in Africa , year=1982 , volume=9 , title=The Archives of the Gold Mines of Kilo-Moto , author=Agayo Bakonzi , pages=355–358 , doi=10.2307/3171617 , s2cid=162126274 {{cite web , url=http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page33?oid=91234&sn=Detail , title=Beyond Moto - African gold stocks rock , work=Mineweb , author=Barry Sergeant , date=26 Oct 2009 , accessdate=2011-10-11 , archive-date=2009-10-24 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091024111327/http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page33?oid=91234&sn=Detail , url-status=dead {{cite journal , url=http://www.scripophily.org/new/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=53 , title=KILO MOTO , author=Howard Shakespeare , journal=Scripophily , date=June 1993 , accessdate=2011-10-10 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425060853/http://www.scripophily.org/new/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=53 , archivedate=2012-04-25

External links

The Gold Mines of Kilo and Moto
Gold mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Ituri Haut-Uélé