The Kambove mines (

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

: ''Société minière de Kababancola'') are a group of active or abandoned copper mines near Kambove in 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 ...

. They were originally established by the

Union Minière du Haut-Katanga The ''Union Minière du Haut-Katanga'' (French language, French; literally "Mining Union of Upper-Katanga") was a Belgium, Belgian mining company (with minority British share) that controlled and operated the mining industry in the copperbelt re ...

under Belgian rule. Inactive mines in the region include Kabolela Mine, Kakanda deposit, Kambove Principal Mine and M'sesa Mine.

Gécamines 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 i ...

, a state-owned mining company, owns the Kamoya central, Kamoya south, Shangolowe and Kamfundwa mines. Other mines are Kambove West Mine and the "secret" Kamoya South II Mine. In January 2001 the Kababancola Mining Company (KMC) was established as a copper and cobalt mining partnership for a 25-year term.

Tremalt Tremalt Limited was a mining company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands which owned assets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It was the vehicle for a highly criticized deal in 2001 in which it bought copper assets at far below ...

, controlled by

John Bredenkamp John Arnold Bredenkamp (11 August 1940 – 18 June 2020) was a Zimbabwean businessman and rugby union footballer. He was the founder of the Casalee Group. Early life Born in South Africa, Bredenkamp moved with his family to Southern Rhodesia w ...

, held 80% of KMC while Gecamines held 20%. KMC gained the rights to mines, facilities and concentrators at Kambove and Kakanda. KMC made relatively low investment in these properties, continuing to operate the already-functioning Kamoya Mine but not opening the others. In March 2002 the DRC authorities took back control of the Kambove concentrator from Tremalt following a complaint by the manager of KMC against Gecamines at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes.

References

{{reflist , refs= {{cite web , url=http://www.laconscience.com/imprimer.php?id_article=3783 , title=Looting of mineral resources in the DRC: the bottom card of the company KMC , date=9 March 2006 , work=The Conscience , accessdate=2011-11-14 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20070704095105/http://www.laconscience.com/imprimer.php?id_article=3783 , archive-date=4 July 2007 , url-status=dead {{cite web , url=http://www.mindat.org/loc-18222.html , title=Kambove, Katanga Copper Crescent, Katanga (Shaba), Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaïre) , work=Mindat , accessdate=2011-11-03 Copper mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Cobalt mining Mining in Haut-Katanga Province

See also

References