http://mg.co.za/article/2015-02-20-dealers-fleece-diggers-desperate-for-a-share-of-drcs-illegal-gold >> A recent study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on the Mukungwe artisanal gold mine near Bukavu in South Kivu, reports that the mine was heavily militarised for years because local families competing for control of the mine employed FARDC commanders to fight their battles for them.
The notorious warlord Bosco Ntaganda, indicted by the Inter–national Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes, was paid for terrorising the enemies of the family that hired him in Mukungwe, according to the OECD report.
The report found, thanks to the efforts of the Observatoire gouvernance et paix, a South Kivu-based NGO, Mukungwe has been largely demilitarised.
Mukungwe lies in the permit area of the Banro Corporation, a Toronto-listed industrial gold miner. Banro also mines at nearby Twangiza, where it managed to move diggers from the main pit but the company has not succeeded in doing the same at the Mukungwe site. The policy of the South Kivu government is that the Mukungwe diggers must relocate to another mine, but finding one as productive as Mukungwe has so far proved impossible and the diggers do not want to leave.
The OECD study said diggers called for Banro to buy their gold, but, fearing it will be accused of buying conflict minerals, Banro has resisted doing so.
Despite the tough conditions and the diggers’ precarious livelihoods, they are determined to stay.
“This country is rich,” said one digger. “Why can’t we all profit from it?”<<
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
