Rubaya Mines
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The Rubaya mines, also known as the Bibatama Mining Concession, is a series of
coltan Coltan (short for columbite–tantalites and known industrially as tantalite) is a dull black metallic ore from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted. The niobium-dominant mineral in coltan is columbite (after niobium's original A ...
mining sites near the town of Rubaya in Masisi Territory,
North Kivu North Kivu () is a Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city is Goma. Spanning approximately 59,483 square kilometers with a population esti ...
,
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 ...
. Officially, the mining license is held by ''Société Minière de Bisunzu Sarl'' (SMB), associated with Congolese senator
Édouard Mwangachuchu Édouard Mwangachuchu Hizi (born 30 September 1953) is a Congolese businessman and politician. He is a member of the National Assembly for Masisi, North Kivu. Mwangachuchu previously served as member of the Senate. He was sentenced to death in ...
. Specific sites include Bibatama D2, Luwowo, Gakombe D4, Koyi, Mataba D2, Bundjali, and Bibatama D3. The mines are the largest
coltan Coltan (short for columbite–tantalites and known industrially as tantalite) is a dull black metallic ore from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted. The niobium-dominant mineral in coltan is columbite (after niobium's original A ...
producer in the country, producing about 1,000 metric tons of coltan a year, about half of the DRC's total production. According to an April 2019 report by ''Sofala Partners'', the mine employs about 3,500 artisanal miners. The mine is partially mechanized, based on reinvested mining profits. Artisanal miners work with little or no protective gear, and earn about a dollar for 14 hours of mining. The main export from the mines is an ore concentrate which contains about 33% Ta2O5 and 5% Nb2O5 by weight. However, the concentrate also contains about 0.14%
uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...
and 0.02%
thorium Thorium is a chemical element; it has symbol Th and atomic number 90. Thorium is a weakly radioactive light silver metal which tarnishes olive grey when it is exposed to air, forming thorium dioxide; it is moderately soft, malleable, and ha ...
, which is enough
naturally occurring radioactive material Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive materials, radioactive elem ...
(NORM) to entail significant complications in handling.


History

Before the
First Congo War The First Congo War, also known as Africa's First World War, was a Civil war, civil and international military conflict that lasted from 24 October 1996 to 16 May 1997, primarily taking place in Zaire (which was renamed the Democratic Republi ...
, the site was controlled by the Congolese state owned company SAKIMA. Mines in the Rubaya area were controlled by several armed groups during the conflict period, including
Rally for Congolese Democracy–Goma The Congolese Rally for Democracy–Goma (, known as RCD-Goma) was a faction of the Congolese Rally for Democracy, a rebel movement based in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during the Second Congo War (1998–2003). After the war, som ...
,
March 23 Movement The March 23 Movement (), often abbreviated as M23 and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army (), is a Congolese Rwandan-backed rebel paramilitary group. Based in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it operates ...
, and National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP). A central figure in the mines is Édouard Mwangachuchu, an ethnic
Tutsi The Tutsi ( ), also called Watusi, Watutsi or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu languages, Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi ( ...
landowner who fled the DRC in the mid-1990s in the midst of ethnic violence encouraged by the Mobutu Sese Seko administration. Returning to the DRC from
asylum in the United States The United States recognizes the right of asylum for individuals seeking protections from persecution, as specified by international and federal law. People who seek protection while outside the U.S. are termed refugees, while people who se ...
, Mwangachuchu went into the mining business with Robert Sussman, an American physician. Mwangachuchu first acquired an exploration permit for the site in 1999, under the company ''Mwangachuchu Hizi International'' (MHI). The company acquired an exploitation permit in 2006, and the company was later renamed to SMB. In 2013, SMB signed an agreement with a local collective of artisanal miners, the ''Coopérative des Exploitants Artisanaux Miniers de Masisi'' (COOPERAMMA) that allowed the diggers onto the property in exchange for SMB holding a monopoly on buying coltan extracted from the area. Mwangachuchu is the president of the National Congress for the Defence of the People, a
Tutsi The Tutsi ( ), also called Watusi, Watutsi or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu languages, Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi ( ...
-aligned former militia, whereas COOPERAMMA president Robert Seninga is associated with the
Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic group native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda where they form one of the principal ethnic groups alongside the Tutsi and the Great L ...
-aligned
Mai-Mai The term Mai-Mai or Mayi-Mayi refers to any kind of community-based militia group active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that is formed to defend local communities and territory against other armed groups. Most were formed to resis ...
Nyatura The Nyatura (Kinyarwanda for “those who hit hard”), also known as Mai-Mai Nyatura, and officially called the Collective of Movements for Change, are a group of Congolese Hutu militias that operate in the Kivu region of the Congo. History T ...
. In May 2013, a
landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...
occurred at Koyi-Rubaya, killing about 100 artisanal miners.
MONUSCO The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or MONUSCO (an acronym based on its French name ), is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A planned withdraw ...
visited the site of the disaster and advised local authorities to ban further artisanal mining in the area. MHI was one of the first mines to apply for certification from the
Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, or BGR) is a German agency within the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. It acts as a central geoscience consulting insti ...
. They also joined the iTSCi traceability program in 2014. In January 2019, SMB announced the mine would be leaving the ITSCI certification scheme, citing the cost of the program. In its place, the mine began using a system of digital tracking devised by the Berlin-based ''RCS Global''. Despite regulations aimed at preventing conflict, the mine is subject to violence between COOPERAMMA and police hired by SMB to prevent smuggling of coltan out of the mines. Three people were killed in a 2020 incident, with SMB and COOPERAMA giving strongly diverging accounts of the circumstances. In response to concerns about the violence, RCS Global advocated for companies to continue sourcing from the mines, saying SMB was implementing changes to address the problems, and that insecurity could get worse if the mines were cut out of supply chains. A ''UN Group of Experts on the DRC'' report submitted in June 2021 presented evidence of armed fighting and weapon distributions in Rubaya's coltan mines.


M23 conflict (2023–present)

Due to the M23 offensive reaching the area, SMB announced that mining was suspended on February 10, 2023. The FARDC withdrew from the area on February 24, and the mines were looted and briefly occupied by M23 forces, before the area was retaken by FARDC on March 1. Mwangachuchu was arrested and accused by the Congolese government of several crimes, including collaborating with the M23 and possessing of weapons of war. According to an order from the Ministry of mines, mining on the SMB concession was again ordered to be halted, but a deadly mining collapse on May 8 made clear that this order was not being followed. The December 2023 report of the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo noted that since September 2023, the Rubaya mining areas have been under the direct control of "Wazalendo" militias such as ANCDH and PARECO-FF who have allied with the governmental FARDC troops. The armed groups began collecting ¨protection" money from miners, with the production continuing illicitly despite a ban from North Kivu provincial authorities and the collapse of due diligence monitoring. On April 30th 2024, the March 23 Movement again took control of the town of Rubaya. On May 2, a spokesman from M23 said the town was "liberated" whereas an activist in
Goma Goma is a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the North Kivu, North Kivu Province; it is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu and shares borders with the Bukumu Chiefdo ...
condemned the development as an example of "systemic plundering".


Location

The Mining area is located near the town of Rubaya, at the end of a dirt road which branches off from a main road between the towns of
Sake Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...
and Walikale. The main road was built in the 2000s by the German charity Welthungerhilfe, though by 2015 the road had fallen into disrepair from a lack of maintenance.


See also

* Coltan mining and ethics *
Mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo The mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (French: ''Industrie minière de la République Démocratique du Congo'') is a major global supplier of minerals including cobalt, copper, diamonds, gold, tantalum, and tin. The DRC su ...
* Bisie * Numbi (town)


References

{{reflist


External links


IPIS Open Data dashboard on Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in eastern DRC
Mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo North Kivu