Mining Industry of The Democratic Republic of The Congo - Natural Resources

Natural Resources

DR Congo is estimated to have $24 trillion (equivalent to the combined Gross Domestic Product of Europe and the United States) worth of untapped deposits of raw mineral ores, including the world’s largest reserves of cobalt and significant quantities of the world’s diamonds, gold and copper. The major ores extracted throughout the DRC are:

• Cobalt
• Diamonds
• Gold
• Copper

Much of the resource extraction is done in small operations, known as "Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining" (ASM), which are unregulated in the DRC. Recently, more money is being invested into the extraction and refining of some of the ores found in the DRC, primarily copper and cobalt, which may help regulate the extraction and reduce environmental impacts. However, many ASM operations still exist for minerals such as coltan that can be mined with little capital investment. ASM operations employ a significant number of DRC's population, with estimates of up to one fifth of the country or 12.5 million people. Because artisenal mining operations require little capital they are unregulated and occur primarily within protected areas, around endangered or threatened species. Artisenal mining often occurs in riparian zones.

During periods of violence, resources have been looted from the original collectors by both Congolese and foreign soldiers, and civilians or they are extracted by soldiers, locals organized by military commanders (much of the time Rwandan and Ugandan commanders) and by foreign nationals. Problems stemming from mining practices include disruption of families, mining-related illnesses, environmental damage, child-labor, and abuse of women including prostitution and rape.