Canadian mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Encyclopedia
This article describes extractive sector companies that are incorporated
in Canada
and are either currently or previously active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
. It encompasses mining
and petroleum
companies, both those carrying out commercial, large-scale extraction operations, and junior exploration and development companies.
The D.R. Congo is a key destination for Canadian mining investments in Africa. According to Natural Resources Canada
, Canadian mining assets in the D.R. Congo rose from Cdn.$321m. in 2001 to $864m. in 2006, and averaged $319m. over that period; these assets in 2006 represented 10.5% of total Canadian mining assets in Africa, and 1.3% of total Canadian mining assets outside of Canada, similar to the shares in 2001. Natural Resources Canada attributed the increase in investment to the return of peace in the DR Congo, and predicted Canadian investments would exceed $3 billion by 2010. There were fewer than ten Canadian-owned mineral properties in what was then Zaire
during 1991-1996, while in 2005, Canadian properties in the D.R. Congo had risen to approximately thirty. According to the Canadian Embassy in Kinshasa, in 2007 there were fifteen major Canadian mining companies active in the D.R. Congo, holding 118 mining titles with investments totaling Cdn.$1.4 billion. In 2009, the D.R. Congo placed among the top ten African countries in terms of Canadian mining interests, with over thirty active properties. During 2007 to 2009, the D.R. Congo ranked either first or second-highest in terms of Canadian-owned mining assets in Africa, between Cdn.$2.7bn. and $5.2bn., or an average of 18.9% of total Canada-Africa mining assets.
mined copper at Sakania in Katanga Province and its Lonshi copper mine, also in Katanga, was in production from 2001 to 2008. The company's Kolwezi tailings
exploitation permit was annuled in 2009, while its Frontier
and Lonshi
mine operations were shut down by the Congolese government in mid-2010..
Lundin Mining
holds a joint venture with Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
and the Congolese parastatal, Gécamines
in Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM). TFM is a copper/cobalt mine in Tenke Fungurume, Katanga Province, which has been in production since 2009.
Katanga Mining Limited
has been mining copper and cobalt
in Katanga Province since 2007 in collaboration with other companies. In 2004 Kinross Gold
held 35% ownership of Kinross Forrest Ltd. Kinross sold 23% of its shares in Kinross Forrest in 2005. In June 2006, Kinross exchanged the remaining 11.67% interest for 5.7 million shares in Katanga Mining Ltd. In September 2006, Kinross sold all its interest in Katanga Mining Ltd . Tenke Mining Corp.
, of Vancouver (previously as Consolidated Eurocan Ventures), from 1996 was part of a joint venture in the Tenke Fungurume Copper/Cobalt Project in southern Katanga Province, with Phelps Dodge Corporation
(acquired by Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold Inc.
in 1997) and Gécamines
. Lundin Mining
acquired the company in 2007.
Privately held Ivanhoe Nickel & Platinum Ltd.
(Ivanplats) has reportedly been prospecting in Kolwezi, Katanga Province since 2006, and in 2009 claimed to have discovered one of the five largest copper deposits ever discovered, at its Kamoa property.
Adastra Minerals Inc.
, incorporated in Canada with executive offices in the United Kingdom, and known from 1995 to 2004 as America Mineral Fields Inc., held two joint ventures, the Kolwezi Tailings Project (cobalt and copper) and a zinc-copper mine at Kipushi
, both in Katanga Province. It was acquired by First Quantum Minerals
in 2006.
provinces.
La Quinta Resource Corporation of Vancouver reported in 2008 about securing gold exploration licenses in Maniema South Kivu Gold belt, however its joint venture with a Congolese company was terminated later the same year.
Moto Goldmines
carried out gold exploration in Ituri Province during 2005-2009 , but merged with South Africa's Randgold in 2009.
Kilo Goldmines Ltd. (formerly Kilo Goldmines Inc.) has held since 2006 the Masters, Somituri, Sihu, ERW, and Poko gold properties, Orientale Province, that were previously owned by Moto Goldmines Ltd. It reported writing off the acquisition and exploration costs in 2010.
Starpoint Goldfields Inc. (Vancouver) acquired two gold properties in northeastern D.R. Congo, including South Kivu in 1997, however it reported abandoning exploration in 1999 due to the ongoing conflict in the country.
Consolidated Trillion Resources Ltd. (formerly Trillion Resources Ltd.) of Vancouver reported exploration on its gold properties at Kipese and a joint copper/cobalt venture in Katanga, but abandoning its stakes due to poor exploration results.
Barrick Gold
acquired a gold exploration permit in 1996 in the Kilo Moto goldfields of what was the Ituri region of then northeastern Zaire, however exploration work with joint partner AngloGold Ltd. of South Africa was suspended in August 1998 due to civil conflict and the departure of expatriate staff.
exploration in Tshikapa, Kasai-Occidental
province, as well as in Équateur
and Orientale Provinces. In 2008, Canada's BRC Diamond Corp. merged with Diamond Core Ltd. of South Africa to form the Toronto-based BRC DiamondCore Ltd.
Emaxon Financial International Inc., established in Montreal
, Canada in 2001, is a subsidiary of the Israeli-based mining group DGI International, and in 2003 providing financing to Société Minière de Bakwanga
("MIBA"), the state-owned diamond company in the D.R. Congo, with the right to purchase 88% of Miba's output at a 5% price discount.
Vancouver-based Rockwell Diamonds held a joint venture in the Kwango River Project since 2006, whose ownership in 2011 was reported to be under litigation.
Gee-ten Ventures Inc. of Laval, Quebec
, announced intention in 2007 to acquire the Kamonia diamond project in Tshikapa
region, however no further developments appear to have been reported.
Mano River Resources Inc., which merged with African Aura Mining Inc. in 2009, held diamond exploration assets in partnership with Socerdami/REMEC and BHP Billiton in the north of the D.R. Congo during 2007 and 2008, but terminated the venture in 2009.
Affinor Resources Inc., which was based in Laval, Quebec, held a joint venture in diamond concessions at Ikulu and Semco in Kasai and Oriental provinces in 2007 and 2008, which were written off in 2008.
Canaf Group Inc. (known up to 2006 as CanAfrican Metals and Mining Corp.) held an interest in 2007 and 2008 in New Stone Mining's four diamond concessions in Orientale Province, but reportedly wrote them off in 2008.
SouthernEra Diamonds Inc., incorporated in Canada in 1987 and known as SouthernEra Resources Limited until 2004, undertook diamond exploration in Kasaï Province during 2002 to 2007 . The company was taken over by the British-South African firm Mwana Africa Plc in 2007.
, niobium
, tin
and tungsten
on its properties in South Kivu, Orientale, Maniema
, and Katanga provinces since 2007 .
Loncor Resources holds exploration licences in North Kivu, Orientale and Bas-Congo
provinces, and reported prospecting in 2010 for gold, platinum and other metals . They report plans to determine pyrochlore
(niobium/tantalum) concentrations in their North Kivu properties. In 2011 Banro Corporation and Loncor Resources shared three members of their boards, the CEO, Director, and Executive Vice President.
Heritage Oil plc
, incorporated in Canada but registered in the Channel Islands
, reported holdings of two oil blocks in Ituri Province, including the western half of Lake Albert.
Privately owned Energem Resources Inc., a petroleum
company incorporated in British Columbia with head offices in South Africa, reported holding warehousing and related infrastructure in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo, in addition to acquiring in 2003 a share of the shallow water offshore Marine XI block belonging to the Republic of the Congo
.
In 1999, Ocelot International Ltd., then based in Calgary, and owned by a former Canadian trade commissioner for Africa, Robert S. Stewart, acquired a 45% interest in three DR Congo oil concessions near the mouth of the Congo River from Shell Petroleum NV, however early in 2000, the company re-incorporated as PanAfrican Energy Corporation Ltd. in the Channel Islands.
(NRCan) of companies' reported acquisition, construction and fabrication costs, including capitalized exploration and development costs, non-controlling interests, but excluding liquid assets, cumulative depreciation and write-off, show that, uncorrected for inflation, Canadian-raised investment capital directed to natural resource extraction in the D.R. Congo rose thirty-fold between 2002 and 2008 while total Canada-to-Africa mining investment grew six-fold.
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The four large-scale Canadian miners, Anvil, First Quantum, Katanga, and Lundin, increased their cumulative assets in the DRC by nearly twelve-hundred-fold over 2001-2009, going from 0.8% of total Canadian-owned assets in that country to 94.4%. In this re-tabulation of the NRCan data, one company, NGEx Resources Inc. together with its wholly owned subsidiary acquired in 2009, Sanu Resources, was withdrawn because their financial documents report activities in the Republic of Congo (Congo‐Brazzaville) and not in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. NRCan's reported total DRC-related assets, however, have been retained, even though for 2008 and 2009, ownership of some $0.9m. and $1.7m. of assets respectively were unspecified.
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, is administered by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
. Investments in Canadian and foreign companies that have been active in Congolese mining since 2001 have grown from 0.9% (2006) to 2.4% (2010) of total Canadian and foreign equities, as the following table shows.
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Sources
During 2006 to 2010, no investments were reported by the CPPIB into the following Canadian-registered companies with prior or current activities in the DRC: Adastra Minerals Inc., Affinor, African Aura (formerly Mano River Resources), African Metals Corporation, Africo Resources Ltd., America Mineral Fields Inc., BRC DiamondCore (formerly BRC Diamond Corp.), CANAF Group (formerly CanAfrican Metals and Mining Corp.), Consolidated Eurocan Ventures, Consolidated Trillion Resources (formerly Trillion Resources), El Niño Ventures, Emaxon Finance Corp., Energulf Resources Inc., Gee-Ten Ventures Inc., Greenock Resources (formerly Simberi Mining Corp., Simberi Gold Corp.), Harambee Mining Corp., ICS Copper Systems Ltd., International Barytex Resources Ltd., International Panorama Resource Corp., Ivanhoe Nickel & Platinum Ltd. (Ivanplats), Kilo Goldmines, La Quinta Resources Corp., Loncor Resources, Ressources Melkior, Rockwell Diamonds, Shamika Resources, South Atlantic Resources (South Atlantic Ventures), SouthernEra Diamonds (SouthernEra Resources), Starpoint Gold Fields Inc., or Teal Exploration & Mining Inc.
are administered separately by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
. The following table shows that investments in mining companies active since 2001 in the D.R. Congo, both Canadian and foreign-based, have steadily increased as a percentage of total stocks and bonds from 0.2% (2001) to 0.7% (2009).
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Sources
La Caisse did not report investments during this period in any of the other Canadian companies which have had mining operations in the DRC.
(EDC), an agency of the Canadian government, provides finance and insurance to Canadian businesses operating abroad. Kinross Gold Corporation has not reported EDC financing specifically for its Congolese projects, however it has reported EDC loans for mining operations in Russia
, and in Brazil
; as well, in 2009, EDC provided Kinross Gold with a loan in the $25m.-$50m. range, designated for "general corporate purposes", independent of country of operation. First Quantum has reported EDC financing, not in the D.R. Congo, but for its Kansanshi, Zambia
project, close to the DRC border. Individual-level transactions data from EDC record financing in the $25m.-$50m. range provided in 2009 to Lundin Mining Corporation
that was designated for use in "various countries", however, the $300m. multi-lender credit facility stipulated that Lundin would not be permitted to apply the US$45m. EDC contribution to its Tenke Fungurume project in the Congo.
invested risk capital in 16 Canadian firms, of which one, Banro Corporation, is undertaking gold mining and exploration in the D.R. Congo, receiving $13m. in 2005 from Cordiant.
. Among the 45 contracts awarded to Canadian firms by the World Bank
from 2004 to mid-2007 for projects in the D.R. Congo, five were classified as falling in the energy and mining sector, totalling US$283,948, including the consultancy project "Restructuration du réseau education de la Gecamines" awarded to the Montreal-based engineering firm Tecsult International, as well as contracts to Martial Lemire and Gemacor International. None of eight World Bank contracts to Canadian firms in 2009 for D.R. Congo-related projects was in the energy and mining sector .
The World Bank's International Finance Corporation
provided 7.5% financing to First Quantum Minerals for it to acquire Adastra. The IFC reported commitments of US$3.0m. to First Quantum in 2006 and 2009. IFC also invested $4.0m. in Africo Resources for DRC-related projects in 2008.
In 2005, the World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
(MIGA), provided its first loan and investment to a company operating in the D.R. Congo, totaling $13.6m. to Canada's Anvil Mining
, in infrastructure support for its open pit copper and silver Dikulushi Mine
, as well as for community development for the local community.
, a magazine related to corporate social responsibility, of fifty top Canadian corporate citizens in 2010: First Quantum placed 27th, and Kinross Gold Corporation 36th. On only one other occasion since these rankings have been compiled in 2001 has this happened, in 2004, when Kinross Gold ranked 31st.
In 2010, Kinross Gold Corp. also appeared among the first list of Canada's fifty most socially responsible corporations that was co-compiled by Jantzi Sustainanalytics
and Maclean's
magazine.
In 2009, one Canadian mining company, First Quantum Minerals
, was estimated to be the D.R. Congo's largest individual source of tax revenue, US$57m. - roughly equal to the entire Congolese health budget - contributing between one-eighth and one-quarter of all forecast tax receipts from the mining sector. Reported Congolese government fiscal receipts from mining ranged between $11.7m. and $26.7m. during 2003-2006, although the World Bank considers these figures to be "poorly organized, incomplete, and of dubious reliability", and estimates that the D.R. Congo should generate $185m. per year from mining taxes during 2008-2012. First Quantum declared payments totaling US$77m. in income taxes to the DRC government in 2009, representing 38% of all taxes paid by the company that year, while its revenues from the DRC, $441m., were 23% of the company total. First Quantum reported contributing US$298m. in 2009 to the DRC economy, or 3.1% of the country's gross national income.
Lundin Mining, together with Tenke Fungurume Mining partner Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc., reported paying US$205m. in taxes to the government of the D.R. Congo during 2006-2009, and contributing US$28m. to social and environmental programming
Emaxon opened in 2006 reportedly the DRC's first diamond cutting and polishing plant, in the city of Kananga
.
Both First Quantum Minerals and Lundin Mining Corporation, through its partnership in Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) venture, have constructed ore processing plants in Katanga Province. While First Quantum's Frontier mine had been up to 2008 the largest industrial copper operation, it was expected to be exceeded by TFM as it went into production in 2009 with a process plant and tailings storage facility.
Anvil Mining, since 2008, First Quantum since 2007, Lundin Mining since 2008 and Katanga Mining have all reported adherence to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
(EITI) and the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. Of these companies, only Lundin has also reported compliance with the Global Reporting Initiative
, while none of the four has stated that their sustainability reports had been audited by third parties.
Shamika Resources employs Patrick Martineau in charge of Environmental and Social Affairs. Martineau completed a Master's degree in 2008 at the University of Montreal at Quebec on the chain of coltan production, from artisanal miner to international refiners.
A survey, commissioned by the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada
, and covering 171 reported violations of corporate social responsibility by international mining companies operating in developing countries during 1999-2009, identified the D.R. Congo as having the fifth-highest reported incidence, or 7% of the total violations, and while over 75% of global mining and exploration companies were reported to be based in Canada, they contributed to 33% of the reported violations.
In 2010, researchers at the General Reference Hospital, a referral hospital in Panzi, South Kivu, reported that the highest rates of violent rape
self-reported by women patients during 1999 to mid-2006 were coincident with locations where two Canadian mining companies are active; 33.2% of reported cases by rape survivors involving any of gang rape, genital mutilation
or intentional sexually transmitted disease
or HIV
transmission, were from Walungu
, including the Twangiza-Namoya gold belt worked by Banro Corporation and where the FDLR (Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda) and FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo) are reported to be active, and 31.2% of cases were in Kabare, near one of Shamika Resources' coltan concessions and where the FDLR and other militias are also reported to be active.
The UK-based NGO, RAID (Rights & Accountability in Development)
, carried out a survey in conjunction with a Congolese NGO, of 140 Chinese and Congolese workers in DRC mines in Katanga Province in 2008 and 2009, which included evaluations of their working conditions. In response to the question "Which companies provide the best working conditions?", only 32 of 140 respondents selected Canadian companies, after the United States (94 "yes") and Europe (70 "yes"), but somewhat ahead of Australian (16), South African (15), Congolese (9) and Chinese firms (7); the researchers concluded that "[c]onditions in South African, Australian and Canadian companies were not rated highly, which should be a cause for concern for the respective governments".
Montreal-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin
undertook on behalf of Gécamines during 2002-2003 a World Bank-commissioned environmental audit
of the impact of copper and cobalt mining at 32 sites in Katanga Province, which concluded that there was rapid, and in some cases irreversible contamination of ecocystems.
introduced a private member's bill
, Bill C-571, known as the "Trade in Conflict Minerals Act", which sought to ensure that Canadian companies do not purchase minerals from Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania that involved payments to illegal armed groups along the supply chain. Related bills were, in 2009, Private Members' Bill C-300, An Act respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas in Developing Countries, and in 2010, Private Member's Bill C-354, An Act to amend the Federal Courts Act (international promotion and protection of human rights) . While none of these bills has come into force, the D.R. Congo was listed among 48 countries participating in the Export and Import of Rough Diamonds Act, passed into legislation in 2002, which governs Canada's adherence to international trade in conflict diamonds under the Kimberley Process
.
First Quantum Minerals'
copper and cobalt concessions at Kolwezi, Katanga Province were revoked following a review of agreements by the Congolese government in mid-2009, and the company began arbitration against the Congolese government at the International Court of Arbitration in Paris. Similarly, Heritage Oil
reports that its oil holdings were reassigned to two other companies by Presidential decree in 2010, and the company has begun legal action challenging the decision.
In reference to First Quantum Minerals, Congolese Information Minister Lambert Mende accused Canada of disrupting World Bank plans for debt relief for his country in November 2009. Although Canada reportedly abstained from the World Bank vote, debt relief was nevertheless awarded to the DRC. The federal Canadian government's Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying records two current and two inactive lobbying actions, all beginning in 2010, on behalf of First Quantum, made to the Department of Finance Canada, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and the Office of the Prime Minister (Canada)
, concerning Canada's policy on debt forgiveness for the DRC.
begun in 2005 at the request of the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs
was terminated in 2007, reportedly due to insufficient evidence under the Australian Criminal Code. An audit released in 2006 by the World Bank's Office of the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman identified several deficiencies in MIGA's
awarding in 2005 of financing to Anvil. Also in 2006, Anvil signed a protocol with the Province of Katanga government placing restrictions on the employment of Anvil assets by the government, and documenting any usage thereof. In 2010, a group of Congolese-Canadians filed a class action in a Quebec
court against Anvil concerning the Kilwa incident. In April 2011, the Quebec Superior Court
denied a request by Anvil Mining for the civil class action application to be transferred to either Australia or the Congo.
A 2010 report released by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) determined that the "judicial decisions made during the Kilwa case are an illustration of the lack of impartiality and independence within the military justice system [...] No reference was made in the judgement to international law as it pertains to war crimes. Throughout this case, political interference, a lack of co-operation on the part of the military authorities and many irregularities were observed". In reference to the allegations of political interference, the OHCHR report cited a 2007 MONUC
document which noted that during the 2006 trial before the Military Court in Lumbumbashi, the "Military Prosecutor has been pressured to drop the charges brought against the Anvil Mining staff".
panel of experts explicitly identified five Canadian companies to be "in violation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises"; they were: First Quantum Minerals, Harambee Mining Corp., International Panorama Resources Corp., Melkior Resources, and Tenke Mining Corp . The annex also included four other Canadian companies to which other countries of origin were attributed: American [sic] Mineral Fields and Kinross Gold Corporation (both USA), Banro Corporation (South Africa), and Lundin Group (Bermuda). The five-member UN panel included one Canadian, Jim Freedman, an anthropologist and conflict resolution consultant. Speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council following this report's release, Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations, Paul Heinbecker
, welcomed the panel's overall conclusions, but noted that the alleged violations by individually-named companies were mainly unsubstantiated, and that, in Canada, these allegations diverted attention from the principal findings and recommendations. Journalist Madeleine Drohan reported that some of the affected companies had contacted the office of Canada's minister of foreign affairs, Bill Graham, requesting their names to be removed. First Quantum was reported as saying that the bribery allegation made in Panel's report was due to a "misunderstanding" with hired consultants, who were dismissed in 1998.
In 2003, a follow-up United Nations Security Council panel, without any Canadian members, revised the lists according to the degree of resolution achieved by each of the firms and individuals. In Annex I, seven Canadian companies were categorised as "Resolved - No further action required": American [sic] Mineral Fields AMFI, Banro Corporation, First Quantum Minerals, Harambee Mining Corporation, Kinross Gold Corporation, Melkior Resources, and Tenke Mining Corporation; International Panama [sic] Resources Corp appeared in "Category IV - Pending Cases With Governments For Individuals And Companies", to which was added the remark, "No complaint. Enquiry by GoC" [Government of Canada]. While the Panel stated that the resolutions did not invalidate their earlier findings, they did consider those issues to have been worked out to the satisfaction of the Panel and the companies involved (Paragraph 23). Of the 123 companies from 35 countries cited in the 2003 UN report, eight (6.5%) were identified as being from Canada. Pursuant to the 2003 UN report, International Panorama Resources Corp., which was subsequently renamed Kakanda Development Corp., became in 2004-2005 the subject of a Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's National Contact Point (NCP) investigation in response to a request from civil society groups. This was the NCP's sole D.R. Congo case among four "specific instance procedures" undertaken between 2000 and 2010 of Canadian corporate conduct overseas, and the NCP reported that Kakanda had been inactive in the DRC since 1997, officially ceasing all operations there in 2004; the National Contact Point accordingly closed its inquiry under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
, and accepted all other conclusions of the 2003 UN Security Council panel. The Kakanda property has remained in Canadian hands, acquired by Simberi Gold Corporation in 2005, renamed Greenock Resources in 2009. During 2005-2007, Canada's National Contact Point also reported collaboration with the Canadian Government Working Group on the Democratic Republic of Congo in their development of a mining sector corporate social responsibility strategy.
Incorporation
Incorporation may refer to:* Incorporation , the creation of a corporation* Incorporation of a place, creation of municipal corporation such as a city or county...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and are either currently or previously active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
. It encompasses mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
companies, both those carrying out commercial, large-scale extraction operations, and junior exploration and development companies.
The D.R. Congo is a key destination for Canadian mining investments in Africa. According to Natural Resources Canada
Natural Resources Canada
The Department of Natural Resources , operating under the FIP applied title Natural Resources Canada , is the ministry of the government of Canada responsible for natural resources, energy, minerals and metals, forests, earth sciences, mapping and remote sensing...
, Canadian mining assets in the D.R. Congo rose from Cdn.$321m. in 2001 to $864m. in 2006, and averaged $319m. over that period; these assets in 2006 represented 10.5% of total Canadian mining assets in Africa, and 1.3% of total Canadian mining assets outside of Canada, similar to the shares in 2001. Natural Resources Canada attributed the increase in investment to the return of peace in the DR Congo, and predicted Canadian investments would exceed $3 billion by 2010. There were fewer than ten Canadian-owned mineral properties in what was then Zaire
Zaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
during 1991-1996, while in 2005, Canadian properties in the D.R. Congo had risen to approximately thirty. According to the Canadian Embassy in Kinshasa, in 2007 there were fifteen major Canadian mining companies active in the D.R. Congo, holding 118 mining titles with investments totaling Cdn.$1.4 billion. In 2009, the D.R. Congo placed among the top ten African countries in terms of Canadian mining interests, with over thirty active properties. During 2007 to 2009, the D.R. Congo ranked either first or second-highest in terms of Canadian-owned mining assets in Africa, between Cdn.$2.7bn. and $5.2bn., or an average of 18.9% of total Canada-Africa mining assets.
Distinction
When compared against other nations, Canada's mining presence in the D.R. Congo is in a distinct class for a number of reasons, including:- Predominant Canadian corporate presence. The business database Datamonitor 360DatamonitorDatamonitor is an international company providing market intelligence, data analysis and opinion via a worldwide network of in-house analysts. According to the organization's website in 2011, Datamonitor assists over 6000 of the world’s leading corporations in making strategic and operational...
(formerly MarketLine Business Information Centre) identifies twenty-five international mining companies to be active in the D.R. Congo, and records Canadian-domiciled mining companies as having the highest presence among them, nine in total (African Metals CorporationAfrican Metals CorporationAfrican Metals Corporation is a junior Canadian mining company that undertakes exploration and development of copper and cobalt mines in the Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, Banro Corp., BRC DiamondCore Ltd., El Niño Ventures Inc., First Quantum MineralsFirst Quantum MineralsFirst Quantum Minerals Ltd. is a Vancouver, British Columbia based mining and metals company whose principal activities include mineral exploration, development and mining....
Ltd., ICS Copper Systems Ltd., Lundin MiningLundin MiningLundin Mining is a multinational minerals company with operations in Sweden, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Russia. Lundin Mining is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange as part of the S&P/TSX 60 index...
Corp., as well as Anvil MiningAnvil MiningAnvil Mining is a copper producer that has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 2002.The company headquarters are based in Montreal, Canada.Anvil is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Australian Stock Exchange....
Ltd., misidentified as Australian, and Katanga MiningKatanga MiningKatanga Mining is a mining company in the Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , majority-owned by Swiss commodity trader Glencore.-DCC:...
Ltd, misidentified as British), compared to six for AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(Austral Africa Resources Ltd., BHP Billiton Group, Green Machine Development Corporation, Lindian Resources Ltd., Mawson West Ltd., Tiger Resources Ltd.Tiger ResourcesTiger Resources Limited is an Australian-based mining company with two active copper extraction projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . The company was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in May 1997....
), three from South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
(African Rainbow Minerals, AngloGold Ashanti, Chrometco Ltd.), two in the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(Mwana Africa PLC, Randgold Resources Ltd.), two from the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(Century Aluminum Co., Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.), and one each from ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
(CIC Mining Resources Ltd., with Japanese Eco Energy Group's African subsidiary, Eco Project Company Ltd.), MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
(Managem SA), and SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
(Xstrata plc). The Congolese operations of larger international companies, AngloGold Ashanti, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata all report being in the exploration and development phase, while Canada has four companies, Anvil Mining, First Quantum Minerals, Katanga Mining and Lundin Mining all undertaking large-scale commercial extraction for several years or more. - Canadian-led management of DRC's state-run mining company. As part of a World BankWorld BankThe World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
programme, from 2005 to 2009, a Canadian lawyer, Paul Fortin, was managing director of the Congolese mining parastatal GécaminesGécaminesGécamines, or La Générale des Carrières et des Mines, is a state-owned mining company in the Democratic Republic of Congo . Its principal products are copper , cobalt and zinc...
, during which time there was a reduction in its labour force to nine thousand employees, and privatization involving numerous joint ventures with foreign companies, including agreements valued at $9 billion with Chinese investors. Workers protested Fortin's suspension in 2007, and he was reinstated. - Canadian dominance in Congolese industrial copper and cobalt production. Garrett and Lintzer reported unpublished growth projections made by the World Bank for Congolese copper and cobalt production during 2008 to 2014. According to these data, Canadian companies First Quantum Minerals, Lundin Mining (in partnership with the US firm Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold) and Katanga Mining will have been responsible for more than two-thirds of total Congolese copper output from 2008 to 2013, and for more than two-thirds of total Congolese cobalt output from 2008 to 2014. The only other actors cited were BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
(George Forrest International S.A. - Kamoto Copper Company SARL) and China (unnamed). While more than eighty percent of Katanga Province's ore processing operations and smeltersSmeltingSmelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
were reported by the Governor, Moise KatumbiMoïse Katumbi ChapweMoïse Katumbi Chapwe is a Congolese businessman and politician. He is the governor of the Katanga Province, located in the southern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, to be Chinese-owned in 2008, and ninety percent of the product exported to China, the World Bank did not forecast Chinese production volumes to overtake that of individual Canadian-owned and Canadian-joint-owned copper operations until 2013, while Canadian-owned cobalt production is expected to exceed Chinese output until at least the year 2014. In 2009, the tax revenue provided to the government of the D.R. Congo by one Canadian company, First Quantum Minerals, was estimated to represent between one-eighth and one-quarter of all Congolese tax revenues, making it the DRC's largest taxpayer that year, an amount equivalent to the DRC's entire health budget. First Quantum quantified their overall contribution to the DRC economy as equivalent to 3.1% of the country's gross national incomeGross National IncomeThe GNI consists of: the personal consumption expenditures, the gross private investment, the government consumption expenditures, the net income from assets abroad , and the gross exports of goods and services, after deducting two components: the gross imports of goods and services, and the...
for 2009. - Controversies and legislation. An alleged violation of human rightsHuman rightsHuman rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
involving the deaths of over seventy Congolese civilians was linked to a Canadian company, Anvil Mining, which has led to separate legal trials and investigations in the DRC, Australia and Canada. Two Canadian companies, First Quantum Minerals and Heritage Oil, have had their mining permits revoked by the DRC government since 2009, leading to ongoing international arbitration, legal proceedings, and alleged links to obstruction attempts by the Government of CanadaGovernment of CanadaThe Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
in the negotiation of International Monetary FundInternational Monetary FundThe International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
and World Bank debt reliefDebt reliefDebt relief is the partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. From antiquity through the 19th century, it refers to domestic debts, in particular agricultural debts and freeing of debt slaves...
to the DRC in 2010. Since 2005, discussions of Canadian-Congolese mining have figured prominently in the Government of Canada's measures relating to corporate responsibility in overseas extractive sector operations, including the Subcommittee on Human Rights and Development of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade (SCFAIT) in 2005, the 2006 National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility and the Canadian Extractive Sector in Developing Countries, Private Members' Bill C-300, An Act respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas in Developing Countries, Private Member's Bill C-354, An Act to amend the Federal Courts Act (international promotion and protection of human rights) and Private Member's Bill C-571, the Trade in Conflict Minerals Act which specifically mentions the Democratic Republic of the Congo. - Direct involvement by a former Canadian head of government. During 1997-1998, a former Canadian prime ministerPrime ministerA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
, Joe ClarkJoe ClarkCharles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
, was employed by First Quantum MineralsFirst Quantum MineralsFirst Quantum Minerals Ltd. is a Vancouver, British Columbia based mining and metals company whose principal activities include mineral exploration, development and mining....
as a political advisor to the DRC's president at the time, Laurent-Désiré KabilaLaurent-Désiré KabilaLaurent-Désiré Kabila was President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from May 17, 1997, when he overthrew Mobutu Sese Seko, until his assassination by his bodyguards on January 18, 2001...
. Clark was quoted by Canadian journalist Madeleine Drohan as saying: "I had very little to do with the mining operations, although I knew I was First Quantum's calling card".
Copper and cobalt
First Quantum MineralsFirst Quantum Minerals
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. is a Vancouver, British Columbia based mining and metals company whose principal activities include mineral exploration, development and mining....
mined copper at Sakania in Katanga Province and its Lonshi copper mine, also in Katanga, was in production from 2001 to 2008. The company's Kolwezi tailings
Kolwezi tailings project
The Kolwezi tailings project is a major project in the Kolwezi mining area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to recover copper from the tailings, or processed ore, from mining in the region since the 1950s....
exploitation permit was annuled in 2009, while its Frontier
Frontier Mine, Katanga
Frontier Mine is a copper mine in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo that was owned and operated by the Canadian Mining Company First Quantum Minerals...
and Lonshi
Lonshi Mine
Lonshi Mine is a copper mine in Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the southeast of Ndola, Zambia.-Operations:The mine produces high-grade oxide ore that was transported to Zambia for processing at the SX/EW facility in Bwana....
mine operations were shut down by the Congolese government in mid-2010..
Lundin Mining
Lundin Mining
Lundin Mining is a multinational minerals company with operations in Sweden, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Russia. Lundin Mining is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange as part of the S&P/TSX 60 index...
holds a joint venture with Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
Freeport-McMoRan
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., often called simply Freeport, is the world's lowest-cost copper producer and one of the world's largest producers of gold...
and the Congolese parastatal, Gécamines
Gécamines
Gécamines, or La Générale des Carrières et des Mines, is a state-owned mining company in the Democratic Republic of Congo . Its principal products are copper , cobalt and zinc...
in Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM). TFM is a copper/cobalt mine in Tenke Fungurume, Katanga Province, which has been in production since 2009.
Katanga Mining Limited
Katanga Mining
Katanga Mining is a mining company in the Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , majority-owned by Swiss commodity trader Glencore.-DCC:...
has been mining copper and cobalt
Cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....
in Katanga Province since 2007 in collaboration with other companies. In 2004 Kinross Gold
Kinross Gold
Kinross Gold Corporation is a Canadian-based gold mining company with a gold production guidance of 4.5 to 4.9 million gold ounces by 2015. Kinross owns mines and projects in Canada, the United States, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Russia, Ghana and Mauritania, employing approximately 7,500 people...
held 35% ownership of Kinross Forrest Ltd. Kinross sold 23% of its shares in Kinross Forrest in 2005. In June 2006, Kinross exchanged the remaining 11.67% interest for 5.7 million shares in Katanga Mining Ltd. In September 2006, Kinross sold all its interest in Katanga Mining Ltd . Tenke Mining Corp.
Tenke Mining
Tenke Mining Corporation was a mining company with head offices in Canada. The company's operations took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in South America. Tenke Mining was based in Vancouver, British Columbia...
, of Vancouver (previously as Consolidated Eurocan Ventures), from 1996 was part of a joint venture in the Tenke Fungurume Copper/Cobalt Project in southern Katanga Province, with Phelps Dodge Corporation
Phelps Dodge
Phelps Dodge Corporation was an American mining company founded in 1834 by Anson Greene Phelps and William Earle Dodge, Sr.. On March 19, 2007, it was acquired by Freeport-McMoRan and now operates under the name Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.-History:...
(acquired by Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold Inc.
Freeport-McMoRan
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., often called simply Freeport, is the world's lowest-cost copper producer and one of the world's largest producers of gold...
in 1997) and Gécamines
Gécamines
Gécamines, or La Générale des Carrières et des Mines, is a state-owned mining company in the Democratic Republic of Congo . Its principal products are copper , cobalt and zinc...
. Lundin Mining
Lundin Mining
Lundin Mining is a multinational minerals company with operations in Sweden, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Russia. Lundin Mining is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange as part of the S&P/TSX 60 index...
acquired the company in 2007.
Privately held Ivanhoe Nickel & Platinum Ltd.
Ivanhoe Mines
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its focus is on the pacific rim where it is in the process of developing several large mines, the principal one being the Oyu Tolgoi Project in Southern Mongolia 200 km...
(Ivanplats) has reportedly been prospecting in Kolwezi, Katanga Province since 2006, and in 2009 claimed to have discovered one of the five largest copper deposits ever discovered, at its Kamoa property.
Adastra Minerals Inc.
Adastra Minerals
Adastra Minerals Inc , was a London-based mining company with notable operations in central Africa , particularly in copper, cobalt and zinc exploration...
, incorporated in Canada with executive offices in the United Kingdom, and known from 1995 to 2004 as America Mineral Fields Inc., held two joint ventures, the Kolwezi Tailings Project (cobalt and copper) and a zinc-copper mine at Kipushi
Kipushi
Kipushi is a town in Haut-Katanga District, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It lies 35 km southwest of the city of Lubumbashi, very close to the border with Zambia, at an altitude of 1329 m . The main economic activity of the town is mining...
, both in Katanga Province. It was acquired by First Quantum Minerals
First Quantum Minerals
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. is a Vancouver, British Columbia based mining and metals company whose principal activities include mineral exploration, development and mining....
in 2006.
Gold
Banro Corporation has four gold properties in South Kivu and ManiemaManiema
Maniema is a province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Kindu.Following the 2005 Constitution , 25 new provinces were to be created from the 10 current provinces within 36 months . As of October 2010, this had not taken place...
provinces.
La Quinta Resource Corporation of Vancouver reported in 2008 about securing gold exploration licenses in Maniema South Kivu Gold belt, however its joint venture with a Congolese company was terminated later the same year.
Moto Goldmines
Moto Gold Mines
Moto Goldmines Limited was a gold exploration and mining company with operations in the Kilo-Moto greenstone belt in Ituri Province in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The company's stock was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative...
carried out gold exploration in Ituri Province during 2005-2009 , but merged with South Africa's Randgold in 2009.
Kilo Goldmines Ltd. (formerly Kilo Goldmines Inc.) has held since 2006 the Masters, Somituri, Sihu, ERW, and Poko gold properties, Orientale Province, that were previously owned by Moto Goldmines Ltd. It reported writing off the acquisition and exploration costs in 2010.
Starpoint Goldfields Inc. (Vancouver) acquired two gold properties in northeastern D.R. Congo, including South Kivu in 1997, however it reported abandoning exploration in 1999 due to the ongoing conflict in the country.
Consolidated Trillion Resources Ltd. (formerly Trillion Resources Ltd.) of Vancouver reported exploration on its gold properties at Kipese and a joint copper/cobalt venture in Katanga, but abandoning its stakes due to poor exploration results.
Barrick Gold
Barrick Gold
Barrick Gold Corporation is the largest pure gold mining company in the world, with its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and four regional business units located in Australia, Africa, North America and South America...
acquired a gold exploration permit in 1996 in the Kilo Moto goldfields of what was the Ituri region of then northeastern Zaire, however exploration work with joint partner AngloGold Ltd. of South Africa was suspended in August 1998 due to civil conflict and the departure of expatriate staff.
Diamonds
Toronto-based BRC DiamondCore has reported carrying out diamondDiamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
exploration in Tshikapa, Kasai-Occidental
Kasai-Occidental
Kasai-Occidental is one of the ten provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It borders the provinces of Bandundu to the west, Équateur to the north, Kasai-Oriental to the east, and Katanga to the southeast. To the south it borders the country of Angola...
province, as well as in Équateur
Équateur
Équateur is one of the ten provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is in the north of the country, and bordered the Republic of the Congo to the west, the Central African Republic to the north, to the east the Orientale province, and to the south the Kasai-Oriental, Kasai-Occidental, and...
and Orientale Provinces. In 2008, Canada's BRC Diamond Corp. merged with Diamond Core Ltd. of South Africa to form the Toronto-based BRC DiamondCore Ltd.
Emaxon Financial International Inc., established in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada in 2001, is a subsidiary of the Israeli-based mining group DGI International, and in 2003 providing financing to Société Minière de Bakwanga
Societé minière de Bakwanga
Societé minière de Bakwanga is a mining company based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. MIBA is a diamond mining company, and its operations are centered near Mbuji Mayi, in Kasai-Oriental Province in south central DRC....
("MIBA"), the state-owned diamond company in the D.R. Congo, with the right to purchase 88% of Miba's output at a 5% price discount.
Vancouver-based Rockwell Diamonds held a joint venture in the Kwango River Project since 2006, whose ownership in 2011 was reported to be under litigation.
Gee-ten Ventures Inc. of Laval, Quebec
Laval, Quebec
Laval is a Canadian city and a region in southwestern Quebec. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third largest municipality in the province of Quebec, and the 14th largest city in Canada with a population of 368,709 in 2006...
, announced intention in 2007 to acquire the Kamonia diamond project in Tshikapa
Tshikapa
Tshikapa is a city in Kasaï District in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located about 40 miles north of the Angolan border and 120 miles west of province capital Kananga at the confluence of the Tshikapa and Kasai rivers. According to records published by the Utrecht University...
region, however no further developments appear to have been reported.
Mano River Resources Inc., which merged with African Aura Mining Inc. in 2009, held diamond exploration assets in partnership with Socerdami/REMEC and BHP Billiton in the north of the D.R. Congo during 2007 and 2008, but terminated the venture in 2009.
Affinor Resources Inc., which was based in Laval, Quebec, held a joint venture in diamond concessions at Ikulu and Semco in Kasai and Oriental provinces in 2007 and 2008, which were written off in 2008.
Canaf Group Inc. (known up to 2006 as CanAfrican Metals and Mining Corp.) held an interest in 2007 and 2008 in New Stone Mining's four diamond concessions in Orientale Province, but reportedly wrote them off in 2008.
SouthernEra Diamonds Inc., incorporated in Canada in 1987 and known as SouthernEra Resources Limited until 2004, undertook diamond exploration in Kasaï Province during 2002 to 2007 . The company was taken over by the British-South African firm Mwana Africa Plc in 2007.
Tantalum (coltan), niobium, tin and tungsten
Privately owned Shamika Resources, based in Montreal, has reported exploring for tantalumTantalum
Tantalum is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Previously known as tantalium, the name comes from Tantalus, a character in Greek mythology. Tantalum is a rare, hard, blue-gray, lustrous transition metal that is highly corrosion resistant. It is part of the refractory...
, niobium
Niobium
Niobium or columbium , is a chemical element with the symbol Nb and atomic number 41. It's a soft, grey, ductile transition metal, which is often found in the pyrochlore mineral, the main commercial source for niobium, and columbite...
, tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
and tungsten
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
on its properties in South Kivu, Orientale, Maniema
Maniema
Maniema is a province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Kindu.Following the 2005 Constitution , 25 new provinces were to be created from the 10 current provinces within 36 months . As of October 2010, this had not taken place...
, and Katanga provinces since 2007 .
Loncor Resources holds exploration licences in North Kivu, Orientale and Bas-Congo
Bas-Congo
Bas-Congo is one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the only province with a coastline and it borders Bandundu province to the east and Kinshasa to the northeast...
provinces, and reported prospecting in 2010 for gold, platinum and other metals . They report plans to determine pyrochlore
Pyrochlore
Pyrochlore 2Nb2O6 is a solid solution between the niobium end member , and the tantalum end member .-Occurrence:...
(niobium/tantalum) concentrations in their North Kivu properties. In 2011 Banro Corporation and Loncor Resources shared three members of their boards, the CEO, Director, and Executive Vice President.
Petroleum
EnerGulf Resources Inc., based in Vancouver, has held since 2005 an onshore oil exploration license in the Congo Salt Basin in the Lotshi block of the western DRC, and reported preparations for seismic exploration in 2010.Heritage Oil plc
Heritage Oil
Heritage Oil is an independent Jersey-based oil and gas exploration and production company. Its activities are focused on Africa, the Middle East and Russia. It is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. It has a secondary listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange....
, incorporated in Canada but registered in the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
, reported holdings of two oil blocks in Ituri Province, including the western half of Lake Albert.
Privately owned Energem Resources Inc., a petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
company incorporated in British Columbia with head offices in South Africa, reported holding warehousing and related infrastructure in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo, in addition to acquiring in 2003 a share of the shallow water offshore Marine XI block belonging to the Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo , sometimes known locally as Congo-Brazzaville, is a state in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.The region was dominated by...
.
In 1999, Ocelot International Ltd., then based in Calgary, and owned by a former Canadian trade commissioner for Africa, Robert S. Stewart, acquired a 45% interest in three DR Congo oil concessions near the mouth of the Congo River from Shell Petroleum NV, however early in 2000, the company re-incorporated as PanAfrican Energy Corporation Ltd. in the Channel Islands.
Cumulative Canadian mining assets
Tallies compiled by the Government of Canada's Department of Natural ResourcesNatural Resources Canada
The Department of Natural Resources , operating under the FIP applied title Natural Resources Canada , is the ministry of the government of Canada responsible for natural resources, energy, minerals and metals, forests, earth sciences, mapping and remote sensing...
(NRCan) of companies' reported acquisition, construction and fabrication costs, including capitalized exploration and development costs, non-controlling interests, but excluding liquid assets, cumulative depreciation and write-off, show that, uncorrected for inflation, Canadian-raised investment capital directed to natural resource extraction in the D.R. Congo rose thirty-fold between 2002 and 2008 while total Canada-to-Africa mining investment grew six-fold.
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DR Congo | $340,227,664 | $171,863,056 | $160,843,427 | $171,346,441 | $251,989,321 | $937,240,664 | $2,662,277,885 | $5,178,476,881 | $3,343,109,935 |
| Madagascar | $0 | $0 | $7,889,776 | $38,215,063 | $72,957,074 | $99,622,142 | $2,051,021,740 | $4,447,179,718 | $5,062,606,326 |
| South Africa | $697,169,413 | $931,308,617 | $1,148,659,629 | $1,329,123,401 | $1,409,699,871 | $1,989,568,297 | $3,800,467,332 | $2,224,867,650 | $3,187,866,683 |
| Tanzania | $730,390,986 | $1,008,338,237 | $1,461,282,088 | $1,426,101,265 | $1,384,623,332 | $1,337,904,652 | $1,475,636,184 | $2,285,605,873 | $1,910,385,914 |
| Other Africa | $1,111,352,543 | $1,332,760,476 | $1,578,773,752 | $2,079,720,613 | $2,922,472,860 | $4,158,730,565 | $4,786,059,360 | $6,748,847,949 | $6,564,286,539 |
| TOTAL Africa | $2,879,140,606 | $3,444,270,386 | $4,357,448,672 | $5,044,506,783 | $6,041,742,458 | $8,523,066,320 | $14,775,462,501 | $20,884,978,071 | $20,068,255,397 |
The four large-scale Canadian miners, Anvil, First Quantum, Katanga, and Lundin, increased their cumulative assets in the DRC by nearly twelve-hundred-fold over 2001-2009, going from 0.8% of total Canadian-owned assets in that country to 94.4%. In this re-tabulation of the NRCan data, one company, NGEx Resources Inc. together with its wholly owned subsidiary acquired in 2009, Sanu Resources, was withdrawn because their financial documents report activities in the Republic of Congo (Congo‐Brazzaville) and not in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. NRCan's reported total DRC-related assets, however, have been retained, even though for 2008 and 2009, ownership of some $0.9m. and $1.7m. of assets respectively were unspecified.
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adastra Minerals | $17,564,604 | $7,045,331 | $7,916,171 | $18,568,665 | $32,445,868 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
|||||||||
| Affinor | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $178,783 | $0 | $0 |
|||||||||
| African Aura (Mano River Resources) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $80,016 | $523,773 | $0 |
|||||||||
| African Metals | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,370,615 | $1,774,568 | $1,389,232 |
|||||||||
| Africo Resources Africo Resources Africo Resources is a Canadian mining company whose main property is the copper and cobalt Kalukundi Mine in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.-Company profile:... | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $17,591,348 | $28,461,968 | $16,078,304 | $15,555,407 |
|||||||||
| Anvil Mining | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $32,804,800 | $65,844,090 | $264,433,950 | $324,398,466 | $339,101,997 |
|||||||||
| Banro Corporation | $452,940 | $53,429 | $508,000 | $3,958,000 | $15,421,860 | $41,303,356 | $64,354,182 | $130,107,232 | $139,258,842 |
|||||||||
| BRC Diamond | $0 | $0 | $22,481 | $41,649 | $1,886,995 | $7,443,265 | $14,188,659 | $5,563,253 | $5,950,629 |
|||||||||
| CANAF Group | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $252,717 | $0 | $0 |
|||||||||
| El Nino Ventures | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $247,500 | $672,925 | $461,866 |
|||||||||
| First Quantum | $2,713,332 | $4,353,610 | $19,807,784 | $22,298,302 | $37,527,377 | $599,550,575 | $637,710,710 | $1,104,279,300 | $1,099,661,300 |
|||||||||
| Gee-Ten | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $583,542 | $0 | $0 |
|||||||||
| Greenock Resources (formerly Simberi) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $580,561 | $3,317,867 | $4,131,202 | $5,050,218 | $5,131,744 |
|||||||||
| ICS Copper Systems | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $284,640 | $243,842 | $106,407 |
|||||||||
| International Barytex | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $2,324,012 | $15,211,601 | $22,501,941 | $351,864 | $0 |
|||||||||
| Ivanhoe Nickel & Platinum Ltd. | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | | | | | |
|||||||||
| Katanga | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $2,912,405 | $48,961,500 | $295,279,902 | $1,638,367,280 | $0 |
|||||||||
| Kilo Goldmines | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $3,066,971 | $6,723,376 | $13,045,954 |
|||||||||
| La Quinta Resources | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $371,822 | $1,531,477 | $0 | $0 |
|||||||||
| Loncor | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $5,008,619 | $4,692,541 |
|||||||||
| Lundin | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,301,670,810 | $1,923,626,460 | $1,717,060,740 |
|||||||||
| Ressources Melkior | $205,925 | $248,186 | $327,634 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
|||||||||
| Rockwell Diamonds | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $5,940,000 | $1 | $1 |
|||||||||
| Rubicon Minerals Rubicon Minerals Rubicon Minerals is a Canadian company active in gold exploration.Rubicon owns more than of exploration ground near Red Lake, Ontario, Canada, and has made significant discoveries of gold on this property.The property is near to Goldcorp's Red Lake Mine.... (became Africo) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $2,363,369 | $4,497,394 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
|||||||||
| Shamika | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | | | | | |
|||||||||
| SouthernEra | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,051,750 | $2,823,440 | $9,491,040 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
|||||||||
| Teal Exploration | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $6,846,840 | $16,008,300 | $14,847,400 | $0 |
|||||||||
| Tenke Mining | $319,290,862 | $160,140,000 | $132,261,357 | $123,064,706 | $118,764,608 | $121,307,360 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
|||||||||
| DR Congo - Total | $340,227,664 | $171,863,056 | $160,843,427 | $171,346,441 | $251,989,321 | $937,240,664 | $2,662,277,885 | $5,178,476,881 | $3,343,109,935 |
|||||||||
| Africa - Total | $2,879,190,608 | $3,444,270,388 | $4,357,448,675 | $5,044,506,785 | $6,041,742,501 | $8,523,066,322 | $14,775,462,506 | $20,884,978,077 | $20,068,255,400 |
Canada Pension Plan
Canada's state pension plan, the Canada Pension PlanCanada Pension Plan
The Canada Pension Plan is a contributory, earnings-related social insurance program. It forms one of the two major components of Canada's public retirement income system, the other component being Old Age Security...
, is administered by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
CPP Investment Board
Under the direction of the then Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin, the CPP Investment Board was created in 1997 as an organization independent of the government to monitor and invest the funds held by the Canada Pension Plan . In turn, the CPP Investment Board created the CPP Reserve Fund. The...
. Investments in Canadian and foreign companies that have been active in Congolese mining since 2001 have grown from 0.9% (2006) to 2.4% (2010) of total Canadian and foreign equities, as the following table shows.
| Canada Pension Plan Holdings in Mining Companies Active in D.R. Congo (market value, Cdn.$ millions) |
|||||
| Canadian-based companies | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Anvil Mining | $4 | $22 | $20 | $1 | $9 |
|||||
| Banro Corp. | $8 | $10 | $6 | $1 | $2 |
|||||
| Energem Resources | $3 | $1 | nil | nil | nil |
| First Quantum Minerals Ltd. | $61 | $99 | $63 | $45 | $47 |
|||||
| Heritage Oil | nil | $8 | nil | nil | nil |
| Katanga Mining Ltd. | nil | $11 | $37 | nil | $1 |
| Kinross Gold Corp. | $55 | $78 | $172 | $155 | $91 |
|||||
| Lundin Mining | $19 | $19 | $19 | $3 | $59 |
|||||
| Moto Goldmines Ltd. | nil | $6 | $7 | $3 | nil |
| Rubicon Minerals Corp. | nil | nil | $3 | $6 | $14 |
| Tenke Mining Corp. | $17 | $14 | nil | nil | nil |
| TOTAL CPP CANADIAN COMPANY INVESTMENT IN DR CONGO ($ mill.) |
$167 | $268 | $327 | $214 | $223 |
| Total CPPIB Canadian Equity Holdings, publicly traded ($ mill.) | $18,661 | $14,392 | $16,851 | $16,851 | $8,669 |
|||||
| Congo investments as % of total Canadian Equity Holdings | 0.89% | 1.86% | 1.94% | 1.27% | 2.57% |
|||||
| | | | | | |
|||||
| Foreign-based companies with operations in DR Congo |
2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (formerly AngloGold Ltd.) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $11 | $24 |
|||||
| Anglo American PLC | $68 | $142 | $142 | $64 | $116 |
|||||
| BHP Billiton Ltd & BHP Billiton PLC | $144 | $244 | $167 | $299 | $386 |
|||||
| Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. | $15 | $25 | $30 | $18 | $34 |
|||||
| Phelps Dodge Corp. (acquired by Freeport in 2007) | $19 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
|||||
| Xstrata PLC | $14 | $56 | $72 | $27 | $90 |
|||||
| TOTAL CPP FOREIGN COMPANY INVESTMENT IN DR CONGO ($ mill.) |
$260 | $467 | $411 | $419 | $650 |
| Total CPPIB Foreign Equity Holdings ($ mill.) | $27,209 | $35,892 | $28,396 | $23,484 | $28,522 |
|||||
| Congo investments as % of total Foreign Equity Holdings | 0.96% | 1.30% | 1.45% | 1.78% | 2.28% |
|||||
| Total CPPIB Canadian & Foreign Equity Holdings, publicly traded ($ mill.) | $45,870 | $50,284 | $45,247 | $40,335 | $37,191 |
|||||
| Congo investments as % of total Canadian & Foreign Publicly traded Equity Holdings | 0.93% | 1.46% | 1.63% | 1.57% | 2.35% |
|||||
Sources
During 2006 to 2010, no investments were reported by the CPPIB into the following Canadian-registered companies with prior or current activities in the DRC: Adastra Minerals Inc., Affinor, African Aura (formerly Mano River Resources), African Metals Corporation, Africo Resources Ltd., America Mineral Fields Inc., BRC DiamondCore (formerly BRC Diamond Corp.), CANAF Group (formerly CanAfrican Metals and Mining Corp.), Consolidated Eurocan Ventures, Consolidated Trillion Resources (formerly Trillion Resources), El Niño Ventures, Emaxon Finance Corp., Energulf Resources Inc., Gee-Ten Ventures Inc., Greenock Resources (formerly Simberi Mining Corp., Simberi Gold Corp.), Harambee Mining Corp., ICS Copper Systems Ltd., International Barytex Resources Ltd., International Panorama Resource Corp., Ivanhoe Nickel & Platinum Ltd. (Ivanplats), Kilo Goldmines, La Quinta Resources Corp., Loncor Resources, Ressources Melkior, Rockwell Diamonds, Shamika Resources, South Atlantic Resources (South Atlantic Ventures), SouthernEra Diamonds (SouthernEra Resources), Starpoint Gold Fields Inc., or Teal Exploration & Mining Inc.
Quebec Pension Plan
The public pensions of Canadians who are residents of the province of QuebecQuebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
are administered separately by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec manages public pension plans in the Canadian province of Quebec. It was founded in 1965 by an act of the National Assembly...
. The following table shows that investments in mining companies active since 2001 in the D.R. Congo, both Canadian and foreign-based, have steadily increased as a percentage of total stocks and bonds from 0.2% (2001) to 0.7% (2009).
| Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) Investments in Mining Companies Active in DR Congo (market value, Cdn. $ millions) |
|||||||||
| Canadian companies | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| Adastra Minerals Inc. |
nil | nil | nil | nil | $0.5 | nil | nil | nil | nil |
| Africo Resources Ltd. |
nil | nil | nil | nil | nil | $2.0 | nil | nil | nil |
| Anvil Mining Ltd. | nil | nil | nil | nil | nil | nil | $5.3 | nil | $0.0 |
| First Quantum Minerals Ltd. |
$4.0 | $20.9 | $65.8 | $0.0 | $18.9 | $18.9 | $5.1 | $2.0 | $5.3 |
| Kinross Gold Corp. |
nil | nil | nil | nil | nil | $18.5 | $64.9 | $104.2 | $97.7 |
| Lundin Mining Corp. |
nil | nil | nil | nil | nil | nil | $0.7 | $5.4 | $2.1 |
| Rubicon Minerals Corp |
nil | $0.2 | nil | nil | $0.5 | $0.6 | nil | nil | nil |
| SouthernEra Diamonds Inc. |
$0.0 | $11.6 | $1.4 | $1.2 | $0.0 | nil | nil | nil | nil |
| Teal Exploration & Mining Inc |
nil | nil | nil | nil | $0.9 | $3.0 | nil | nil | nil |
| TOTAL CANADIAN QPP INVESTMENT IN DR CONGO (Cdn. $ mill.) |
$4.0 | $32.7 | $67.2 | $1.2 | $20.8 | $43.0 | $76.0 | $111.6 | $105.1 |
| Foreign companies | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (formerly AngloGold Ltd.) |
$5.4 | $9.4 | $6.7 | $2.3 | $6.5 | $6.5 | $0.6 | $6.5 | $22.5 |
| Anglo American PLC |
$34.8 | $30.0 | $29.0 | $8.6 | $30.1 | $85.2 | $76.7 | $18.9 | $53.0 |
| BHP Billiton Ltd & BHP Billiton PLC |
$34.0 | $36.3 | $48.0 | $41.2 | $53.5 | $19.9 | $129.7 | $43.6 | $177.1 |
| Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. |
$3.3 | $1.2 | $2.8 | $1.2 | $2.5 | $11.0 | $15.5 | nil | $1.7 |
| Phelps Dodge Corp. (acquired by Freeport in 2007) |
$0.1 | $0.4 | $1.2 | $15.8 | $12.9 | $18.7 | nil | nil | nil |
| Xstrata PLC | nil | $3.0 | nil | $8.6 | $1.8 | $9.3 | $17.5 | $1.8 | $17.6 |
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |
| TOTAL CANADIAN & FOREIGN QPP INVESTMENT IN DR CONGO ($ mill.) |
$81.6 | $113.0 | $154.9 | $78.9 | $127.6 | $193.6 | $316.0 | $182.4 | $377.0 |
| Total Quebec Pension Plan Equity Investments ($ mill.) | $43,632.0 | $38,555.0 | $40,770.0 | $45,620.0 | $51,727.0 | $63,987.0 | $72,626.0 | $50,905.0 | $53,980.0 |
|||||||||
| Total Canadian investments in DRC as % of total Quebec Pension Plan investments in stocks and bonds |
0.01% | 0.08% | 0.16% | 0.00% | 0.04% | 0.07% | 0.10% | 0.22% | 0.19% |
| Total Canadian & Foreign investments in DRC as % of total Quebec Pension Plan investments in stocks and bonds |
0.19% | 0.29% | 0.38% | 0.17% | 0.25% | 0.30% | 0.44% | 0.36% | 0.70% |
Sources
La Caisse did not report investments during this period in any of the other Canadian companies which have had mining operations in the DRC.
Export Development Canada
Export Development CanadaExport Development Canada
Export Development Canada is Canada's export credit agency. It is a Crown corporation wholly owned by the Government of Canada, which provides financing and risk management services to Canadian exporters and investors in up to 200 markets worldwide, with spread across all provinces in Canada, and...
(EDC), an agency of the Canadian government, provides finance and insurance to Canadian businesses operating abroad. Kinross Gold Corporation has not reported EDC financing specifically for its Congolese projects, however it has reported EDC loans for mining operations in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
; as well, in 2009, EDC provided Kinross Gold with a loan in the $25m.-$50m. range, designated for "general corporate purposes", independent of country of operation. First Quantum has reported EDC financing, not in the D.R. Congo, but for its Kansanshi, Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
project, close to the DRC border. Individual-level transactions data from EDC record financing in the $25m.-$50m. range provided in 2009 to Lundin Mining Corporation
Lundin Mining
Lundin Mining is a multinational minerals company with operations in Sweden, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Russia. Lundin Mining is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange as part of the S&P/TSX 60 index...
that was designated for use in "various countries", however, the $300m. multi-lender credit facility stipulated that Lundin would not be permitted to apply the US$45m. EDC contribution to its Tenke Fungurume project in the Congo.
Canada Investment Fund for Africa
The Government of Canada contributed US$81m. to the Canada Investment Fund for Africa (CIFA) which operated from 2005 to 2008 and valued at US$212m. including private contributions, and CIFA's funds manager, Cordiant Capital Inc.Cordiant Capital Inc.
Established in 1999 by Carl H. Otto, Ph.D. and David Creighton, Cordiant Capital Inc. is a manager of emerging market, private sector investments. With USD 2.2 billion in capital subscriptions across five emerging market funds, Cordiant counts amongst its clients some of the world’s largest...
invested risk capital in 16 Canadian firms, of which one, Banro Corporation, is undertaking gold mining and exploration in the D.R. Congo, receiving $13m. in 2005 from Cordiant.
World Bank
The Canadian federal government is a donor to the World BankWorld Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
. Among the 45 contracts awarded to Canadian firms by the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
from 2004 to mid-2007 for projects in the D.R. Congo, five were classified as falling in the energy and mining sector, totalling US$283,948, including the consultancy project "Restructuration du réseau education de la Gecamines" awarded to the Montreal-based engineering firm Tecsult International, as well as contracts to Martial Lemire and Gemacor International. None of eight World Bank contracts to Canadian firms in 2009 for D.R. Congo-related projects was in the energy and mining sector .
The World Bank's International Finance Corporation
International Finance Corporation
The International Finance Corporation promotes sustainable private sector investment in developing countries.IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States....
provided 7.5% financing to First Quantum Minerals for it to acquire Adastra. The IFC reported commitments of US$3.0m. to First Quantum in 2006 and 2009. IFC also invested $4.0m. in Africo Resources for DRC-related projects in 2008.
In 2005, the World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency is a member organization of the World Bank Group that offers political risk insurance. It was established to promote foreign direct investment into developing countries. MIGA was founded in 1988 with a capital base of $1 billion and is headquartered in...
(MIGA), provided its first loan and investment to a company operating in the D.R. Congo, totaling $13.6m. to Canada's Anvil Mining
Anvil Mining
Anvil Mining is a copper producer that has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 2002.The company headquarters are based in Montreal, Canada.Anvil is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Australian Stock Exchange....
, in infrastructure support for its open pit copper and silver Dikulushi Mine
Dikulushi Mine
The Dikulushi mine is a copper mine and silver mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located some west of Lake Mweru and north of Kilwa in the Moero Sector of Pweto Territory, Katanga Province....
, as well as for community development for the local community.
Social and environmental aspects
Two Canadian companies holding or previously holding mining concessions in the D.R. Congo placed among an annual listing by Corporate KnightsCorporate Knights
Corporate Knights is a quarterly Canadian magazine dedicated to the promotion of responsible business practices within Canada and the advancement of social and environmental sustainability worldwide....
, a magazine related to corporate social responsibility, of fifty top Canadian corporate citizens in 2010: First Quantum placed 27th, and Kinross Gold Corporation 36th. On only one other occasion since these rankings have been compiled in 2001 has this happened, in 2004, when Kinross Gold ranked 31st.
In 2010, Kinross Gold Corp. also appeared among the first list of Canada's fifty most socially responsible corporations that was co-compiled by Jantzi Sustainanalytics
Jantzi Social Index
The Jantzi Social Index is a Canadian stock market index created in 2000. It is based on a modified S&P/TSX Composite Index with the purpose being to measure the effect of a socially and environmentally conscious stock market index on market behavior....
and Maclean's
Maclean's
Maclean's is a Canadian weekly news magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events.-History:Founded in 1905 by Toronto journalist/entrepreneur Lt.-Col. John Bayne Maclean, a 43-year-old trade magazine publisher who purchased an advertising agency's in-house...
magazine.
In 2009, one Canadian mining company, First Quantum Minerals
First Quantum Minerals
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. is a Vancouver, British Columbia based mining and metals company whose principal activities include mineral exploration, development and mining....
, was estimated to be the D.R. Congo's largest individual source of tax revenue, US$57m. - roughly equal to the entire Congolese health budget - contributing between one-eighth and one-quarter of all forecast tax receipts from the mining sector. Reported Congolese government fiscal receipts from mining ranged between $11.7m. and $26.7m. during 2003-2006, although the World Bank considers these figures to be "poorly organized, incomplete, and of dubious reliability", and estimates that the D.R. Congo should generate $185m. per year from mining taxes during 2008-2012. First Quantum declared payments totaling US$77m. in income taxes to the DRC government in 2009, representing 38% of all taxes paid by the company that year, while its revenues from the DRC, $441m., were 23% of the company total. First Quantum reported contributing US$298m. in 2009 to the DRC economy, or 3.1% of the country's gross national income.
Lundin Mining, together with Tenke Fungurume Mining partner Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc., reported paying US$205m. in taxes to the government of the D.R. Congo during 2006-2009, and contributing US$28m. to social and environmental programming
Emaxon opened in 2006 reportedly the DRC's first diamond cutting and polishing plant, in the city of Kananga
Kananga
Kananga, formerly known as Luluabourg or Luluaburg, is the capital of Lulua District in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It has a population of 1,130,100 ....
.
Both First Quantum Minerals and Lundin Mining Corporation, through its partnership in Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) venture, have constructed ore processing plants in Katanga Province. While First Quantum's Frontier mine had been up to 2008 the largest industrial copper operation, it was expected to be exceeded by TFM as it went into production in 2009 with a process plant and tailings storage facility.
Anvil Mining, since 2008, First Quantum since 2007, Lundin Mining since 2008 and Katanga Mining have all reported adherence to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative increases transparency over payments by companies to governments and to government-linked entities, as well as transparency over revenues by those host country governments...
(EITI) and the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. Of these companies, only Lundin has also reported compliance with the Global Reporting Initiative
Global Reporting Initiative
The Global Reporting Initiative produces one of the world's most prevalent standards for sustainability reporting - also known as ecological footprint reporting, Environmental Social Governance reporting, Triple Bottom Line reporting, Corporate Social Responsibility reporting...
, while none of the four has stated that their sustainability reports had been audited by third parties.
Shamika Resources employs Patrick Martineau in charge of Environmental and Social Affairs. Martineau completed a Master's degree in 2008 at the University of Montreal at Quebec on the chain of coltan production, from artisanal miner to international refiners.
A survey, commissioned by the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada
Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada
Established in 1932, the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada represents the interests of the Canadian mineral exploration and development industry. The association is best known for its annual convention and trade show in Toronto, known as the PDAC...
, and covering 171 reported violations of corporate social responsibility by international mining companies operating in developing countries during 1999-2009, identified the D.R. Congo as having the fifth-highest reported incidence, or 7% of the total violations, and while over 75% of global mining and exploration companies were reported to be based in Canada, they contributed to 33% of the reported violations.
In 2010, researchers at the General Reference Hospital, a referral hospital in Panzi, South Kivu, reported that the highest rates of violent rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
self-reported by women patients during 1999 to mid-2006 were coincident with locations where two Canadian mining companies are active; 33.2% of reported cases by rape survivors involving any of gang rape, genital mutilation
Female genital cutting
Female genital mutilation , also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision, is defined by the World Health Organization as "all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons."FGM...
or intentional sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...
or HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
transmission, were from Walungu
Walungu
Walungu is a town and territory of South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of CongoIt was the site of a plane crash on May 25, 2005 when a chartered Maniema Union Antonov An-28 aircraft, owned by Victoria Air, crashed into a mountain near Walungu, about 30 minutes after takeoff. All of the 22...
, including the Twangiza-Namoya gold belt worked by Banro Corporation and where the FDLR (Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda) and FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo) are reported to be active, and 31.2% of cases were in Kabare, near one of Shamika Resources' coltan concessions and where the FDLR and other militias are also reported to be active.
The UK-based NGO, RAID (Rights & Accountability in Development)
RAID (NGO)
RAID is an abbreviation of Rights & Accountability in Development. It is a Non-governmental organization, or NGO, based in Oxford, England. It was founded in 1997, with the aim of promoting "a rights-based approach to development".- Work :...
, carried out a survey in conjunction with a Congolese NGO, of 140 Chinese and Congolese workers in DRC mines in Katanga Province in 2008 and 2009, which included evaluations of their working conditions. In response to the question "Which companies provide the best working conditions?", only 32 of 140 respondents selected Canadian companies, after the United States (94 "yes") and Europe (70 "yes"), but somewhat ahead of Australian (16), South African (15), Congolese (9) and Chinese firms (7); the researchers concluded that "[c]onditions in South African, Australian and Canadian companies were not rated highly, which should be a cause for concern for the respective governments".
Montreal-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin
SNC-Lavalin
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. is a large Canadian engineering firm. It is one of the ten largest engineering firms in the world and is based in Montreal, Quebec. It formed in 1991 from the merger of SNC and the failing Lavalin, another Quebec based engineering firm....
undertook on behalf of Gécamines during 2002-2003 a World Bank-commissioned environmental audit
Environmental audits
Environmental audit is a general term that can reflect various types or evaluations intended to identify environmental compliance and management system implementation gaps, along with related corrective actions. In this way they perform an analogous function to financial audits...
of the impact of copper and cobalt mining at 32 sites in Katanga Province, which concluded that there was rapid, and in some cases irreversible contamination of ecocystems.
Canadian legislation
In 2010, Canadian Member of Parliament Paul DewarPaul Dewar
Paul W. Dewar is a Canadian politician currently serving as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Ottawa Centre.Dewar is a member of the New Democratic Party and was first elected to the House of Commons in the 2006 federal election...
introduced a private member's bill
Private Member's Bill
A member of parliament’s legislative motion, called a private member's bill or a member's bill in some parliaments, is a proposed law introduced by a member of a legislature. In most countries with a parliamentary system, most bills are proposed by the government, not by individual members of the...
, Bill C-571, known as the "Trade in Conflict Minerals Act", which sought to ensure that Canadian companies do not purchase minerals from Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania that involved payments to illegal armed groups along the supply chain. Related bills were, in 2009, Private Members' Bill C-300, An Act respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas in Developing Countries, and in 2010, Private Member's Bill C-354, An Act to amend the Federal Courts Act (international promotion and protection of human rights) . While none of these bills has come into force, the D.R. Congo was listed among 48 countries participating in the Export and Import of Rough Diamonds Act, passed into legislation in 2002, which governs Canada's adherence to international trade in conflict diamonds under the Kimberley Process
Kimberley Process
Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is the process designed to certify the origin of rough diamonds from sources which are free of conflict funded by diamond production....
.
Ecosociété, Banro and Barrick
Following the publishing in 2008 of the book Noir Canada: pillage, corruption et criminalité en Afrique, Barrick and Banro filed defamation lawsuits involving $11m. against the publisher, Éditions Écosociété and the authors. The book includes a discussion of the activities in the D.R. Congo of America Mineral Fields, Anvil Mining, Banro Resources, First Quantum Minerals, Kinross and Lundin. Barrick and Écosociété settled out of court in October, 2011, the terms involving a financial payment to Barrick by Écosociété and the cessation of the book's publication.Government of the D.R. Congo's review of mining agreements
DRC's Ministry of Mines undertook a review of fifty-seven mining contracts and six mining conventions during 2007. Anvil Mining's and Katanga Mining's contracts were renegotiated successfully.First Quantum Minerals'
First Quantum Minerals
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. is a Vancouver, British Columbia based mining and metals company whose principal activities include mineral exploration, development and mining....
copper and cobalt concessions at Kolwezi, Katanga Province were revoked following a review of agreements by the Congolese government in mid-2009, and the company began arbitration against the Congolese government at the International Court of Arbitration in Paris. Similarly, Heritage Oil
Heritage Oil
Heritage Oil is an independent Jersey-based oil and gas exploration and production company. Its activities are focused on Africa, the Middle East and Russia. It is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. It has a secondary listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange....
reports that its oil holdings were reassigned to two other companies by Presidential decree in 2010, and the company has begun legal action challenging the decision.
In reference to First Quantum Minerals, Congolese Information Minister Lambert Mende accused Canada of disrupting World Bank plans for debt relief for his country in November 2009. Although Canada reportedly abstained from the World Bank vote, debt relief was nevertheless awarded to the DRC. The federal Canadian government's Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying records two current and two inactive lobbying actions, all beginning in 2010, on behalf of First Quantum, made to the Department of Finance Canada, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and the Office of the Prime Minister (Canada)
Office of the Prime Minister (Canada)
In Canada, the Office of the Prime Minister , located in the Langevin Block, on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, is one of the most powerful parts of the government. It is made up of the prime minister and his or her top political staff, who are charged with advising the prime minister on decisions,...
, concerning Canada's policy on debt forgiveness for the DRC.
Lutundula Commission Report
The World Bank-funded Lutundula Commission, a DRC National Assembly group chaired by parliamentarian Christophe Lutundula, investigated mining contracts granted during 1996-2003, and published its findings in 2005. Canadian companies discussed in the report included Anvil Mining (p. 151-156), Banro (p. 190-196), First Quantum (p. 156-162), Lundin (p. 145-150), and Melkior (p. 127-129). Also mentioned were Philip Barrat Kaiser, a Canadian company which held a contract from 1983 to 1986 with the Zairois government (p. 130), and Vin Mart Canada of Richmond Hill, Ontario (p. 121), which was reported to hold a 10% share in La Société Minière du Katanga Sprl (SOMIKA). The Commission recommended the renegotiation of the period of Anvil Mining's agreement (p. 156) and described as "reprehensible" five actions made by SOMINKI-SAKIMA-SOMICO-BANRO (75% of whose shares were owned by Banro) during 1996 and 1997 (p. 192).Anvil Mining and Kilwa incident
In 2004, to quell a rebel uprising in the town of Kilwa, nearby Anvil Mining's Dikulushi minesite, the Congolese military requisitioned trucks and a plane from Anvil Mining, and Anvil provided additional logistical support; more than seventy persons were killed in this incident, according to a UN observer mission. Anvil employees including one Canadian were acquitted of responsibility in 2007 by a Congolese military trial, and no appeal trial was held, despite hopes expressed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. An inquiry by the Australian Federal PoliceAustralian Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police is the federal police agency of the Commonwealth of Australia. Although the AFP was created by the amalgamation in 1979 of three Commonwealth law enforcement agencies, it traces its history from Commonwealth law enforcement agencies dating back to the federation of...
begun in 2005 at the request of the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Minister for Foreign Affairs (Australia)
In the Government of Australia, the Minister for Foreign Affairs is responsible for overseeing the international diplomacy section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In common with international practice, the office is often informally referred to as Foreign Minister...
was terminated in 2007, reportedly due to insufficient evidence under the Australian Criminal Code. An audit released in 2006 by the World Bank's Office of the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman identified several deficiencies in MIGA's
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency is a member organization of the World Bank Group that offers political risk insurance. It was established to promote foreign direct investment into developing countries. MIGA was founded in 1988 with a capital base of $1 billion and is headquartered in...
awarding in 2005 of financing to Anvil. Also in 2006, Anvil signed a protocol with the Province of Katanga government placing restrictions on the employment of Anvil assets by the government, and documenting any usage thereof. In 2010, a group of Congolese-Canadians filed a class action in a Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
court against Anvil concerning the Kilwa incident. In April 2011, the Quebec Superior Court
Quebec Superior Court
Quebec Superior Court is the highest trial Court in the Province of Quebec, Canada. It consists of 144 judges who are appointed by the federal government.Chief Justices : [partial listing]* Edward Bowen...
denied a request by Anvil Mining for the civil class action application to be transferred to either Australia or the Congo.
A 2010 report released by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is a United Nations agency that works to promote and protect the human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948...
(OHCHR) determined that the "judicial decisions made during the Kilwa case are an illustration of the lack of impartiality and independence within the military justice system [...] No reference was made in the judgement to international law as it pertains to war crimes. Throughout this case, political interference, a lack of co-operation on the part of the military authorities and many irregularities were observed". In reference to the allegations of political interference, the OHCHR report cited a 2007 MONUC
United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO , is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which was established by the United Nations Security Council in resolutions 1279...
document which noted that during the 2006 trial before the Military Court in Lumbumbashi, the "Military Prosecutor has been pressured to drop the charges brought against the Anvil Mining staff".
United Nations Security Council Panel of Experts
In 2002, a report on resource exploitation in the DRC by a United Nations Security CouncilUnited Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
panel of experts explicitly identified five Canadian companies to be "in violation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises"; they were: First Quantum Minerals, Harambee Mining Corp., International Panorama Resources Corp., Melkior Resources, and Tenke Mining Corp . The annex also included four other Canadian companies to which other countries of origin were attributed: American [sic] Mineral Fields and Kinross Gold Corporation (both USA), Banro Corporation (South Africa), and Lundin Group (Bermuda). The five-member UN panel included one Canadian, Jim Freedman, an anthropologist and conflict resolution consultant. Speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council following this report's release, Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations, Paul Heinbecker
Paul Heinbecker
Paul Heinbecker is a retired Canadian career diplomat and a former Canadian ambassador to Germany and permanent representative of Canada to the United Nations in New York....
, welcomed the panel's overall conclusions, but noted that the alleged violations by individually-named companies were mainly unsubstantiated, and that, in Canada, these allegations diverted attention from the principal findings and recommendations. Journalist Madeleine Drohan reported that some of the affected companies had contacted the office of Canada's minister of foreign affairs, Bill Graham, requesting their names to be removed. First Quantum was reported as saying that the bribery allegation made in Panel's report was due to a "misunderstanding" with hired consultants, who were dismissed in 1998.
In 2003, a follow-up United Nations Security Council panel, without any Canadian members, revised the lists according to the degree of resolution achieved by each of the firms and individuals. In Annex I, seven Canadian companies were categorised as "Resolved - No further action required": American [sic] Mineral Fields AMFI, Banro Corporation, First Quantum Minerals, Harambee Mining Corporation, Kinross Gold Corporation, Melkior Resources, and Tenke Mining Corporation; International Panama [sic] Resources Corp appeared in "Category IV - Pending Cases With Governments For Individuals And Companies", to which was added the remark, "No complaint. Enquiry by GoC" [Government of Canada]. While the Panel stated that the resolutions did not invalidate their earlier findings, they did consider those issues to have been worked out to the satisfaction of the Panel and the companies involved (Paragraph 23). Of the 123 companies from 35 countries cited in the 2003 UN report, eight (6.5%) were identified as being from Canada. Pursuant to the 2003 UN report, International Panorama Resources Corp., which was subsequently renamed Kakanda Development Corp., became in 2004-2005 the subject of a Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's National Contact Point (NCP) investigation in response to a request from civil society groups. This was the NCP's sole D.R. Congo case among four "specific instance procedures" undertaken between 2000 and 2010 of Canadian corporate conduct overseas, and the NCP reported that Kakanda had been inactive in the DRC since 1997, officially ceasing all operations there in 2004; the National Contact Point accordingly closed its inquiry under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are annex to the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises. They are recommendations providing voluntary principles and standards for responsible business conduct for multinational corporations operating in or from...
, and accepted all other conclusions of the 2003 UN Security Council panel. The Kakanda property has remained in Canadian hands, acquired by Simberi Gold Corporation in 2005, renamed Greenock Resources in 2009. During 2005-2007, Canada's National Contact Point also reported collaboration with the Canadian Government Working Group on the Democratic Republic of Congo in their development of a mining sector corporate social responsibility strategy.
Quotations
- Nicholas Garrett, Freie Universität Berlin & Marie Lintzer, Resource Consulting Services Ltd, UK , on Lundin Mining Corporation's Tenke Fungurume Mining partnership, November 2010: "By the end of 2009, TFM had invested USD 1.7 billion into the mine, process plant, tailing storage facility and other ancillary structures, and the mine went into commercial production in September 2009. While the process is still at an early stage of data gathering and analysis, it appears likely that a range of potential positive impacts on the provincial and national economy can be generated due to TFM investment, construction and operations."
- Fidel Bafilemba, Enough ProjectEnough ProjectEnough is a project of the Center for American Progress , based in Washington, D.C., created to end genocide and crimes against humanity. Its Co-Founders are John Prendergast and Gayle Smith; its Executive Director is John C. Bradshaw, J.D....
, October 2010: "In recent years the establishment of an industrial gold mining operation by the Canadian Banro Corporation in Twangiza, Walungu territory in South Kivu marks the return of industrial mining to the region. Banro was exempted from the [temporary export] mining ban [in North Kivu, South Kivu, and Maniema provinces], and it recently began construction of its plant at the Twangiza site, approximately 50 miles from Bukavu. The track record of industrial mining in Congo leaves much to be desired, with serious questions regarding the equity of mining contracts and the behavior of international mining companies. But in the Kivus there is hope that industrial mining could provide an alternative to armed groups. Mwamikazi Esperance Baharanyi, traditional queen of the Walungu territory, a territory roughly the size of Rwanda, told Enough that Banro 'represents a positive alternative to artisanal mining in eastern Congo.' However, it is too soon to tell whether such efforts will effectively help local communities benefit from their natural resources." - Ulric Shelwa, for Shamika Resources, September 2010: "World opinion, for the most part, does not presently endorse Shamika’s belief in the potential for positive change in the DRC, but nor did it endorse such a positive outlook at the end of the last decade for some countries in post-communist Europe and in south-east Asia. History, and positive social, political and corporate agents of change, proved it wrong. To that end, Shamika believes the same is possible in the DRC. It has been a leader for the DRC, among the juniors, in mining and social activities."
- Chisholm Pothier, Director of Communications, Department of Finance, Government of Canada, June 2010: "We have repeatedly expressed Canada's serious concerns about the impact of the DRC’s government mismanagement of the country's all-important resource sector during discussions on the DRC in various international forums."
- Peter Whelan, Export Development Canada, Government of Canada, April 2010: "Foreign investment in mining and other sectors of the economy will continue to be constrained by the unpredictable political and regulatory environment as evinced by the review of mining contracts of recent years."
- Louise Arbour, then United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, July 4, 2007, in response to the acquittal of defendents by a Congolese military court over the deaths of 100 citizens in Kilwa, Katanga Province, which was linked to Anvil Mining: "I am concerned at the court's conclusions that the events in Kilwa were the accidental results of fighting, despite the presence at the trial of substantial eye-witness testimony and material evidence pointing to the commission of serious and deliberate human rights violations [...] I am pleased that an appellate instance will have the opportunity to revisit these findings. I urge the appeal court to fully and fairly weigh all the evidence before it reaches the appropriate conclusions that justice and the rights of the victims demand."
- Stratos Inc., for Export Development Canada, June 2007: "One Canadian mining company described the approach it had taken to develop its property. It started consulting neighbouring communities two and a half years before the new mine began to work the concession. A year later, it started to develop community profiles and needs assessments (there are 42 villages on its concession). It also enrolled the support of local leaders to discourage artisanal mining on its property and followed up by offering replacement jobs to artisanal miners in its own operations, in tree-cutting and in agricultural programs. These projects were identified by NGOs and were substantial enough that they absorbed many of the displaced artisanal miners. The company refurbished two primary schools, built a third one and committed to paying teachers for three years. It helped establish 20 micro-enterprises (e.g., in brick-making and fence-building) and encouraged local manufacturing by buying local products. It funded skills-training and drilled water wells. Not confident about how the government would spend royalties once these started flowing, the company has committed to investing 0.3 per cent of revenues to go into a Community Trust Fund which will be jointly administered by the company and the local community [...] Companies face a dilemma because while they do not wish to take on the role of government - and workshop participants agreed that it would be inappropriate for them to do so - they need to participate actively in fighting corruption, improving overall governance and promoting greater equity if they want to ensure political stability and protect their investments. Ultimately, they need to be able to transfer the social responsibilities they assume to a willing and capable govenment if the country's development is to be sustainable."
- Mark Smith, RBC Securities Capital Markets, December 8, 2006: "The Kibara belt on the African rift valley holds over 80% of the world’s columbo-tantalite reserves."
- Madeleine Drohan, Canadian journalist, 2003, on UN Security Council Resolution S/2002/1146: "The president of Kinross Gold, another Canadian firm, assured me that all his company's dealings in the Congo were by any standards appropriate and defensible. He later called the mention of his company on the list 'irresponsible commentary' that would hit its share price. [...] All but thirty-eight names of companies and individuals were dropped from the list of cases requiring urgent international attention. Companies pointed to this outcome as proof of their innocence, but a careful reading of the reasons of the panel indicated this was not necessarily so [...] The report was a blow for groups such as Entraide Missionare which had been hoping for a more robust follow-up."
- Sam Kiley, The Times (London), April 22, 1997: "Mining multinationals have signed billion-dollar deals for mineral rights with Laurent Kabila, Zaire's rebel leader, to get ahead in what is being billed as 'the second scramble for Africa'. [...] This week American [sic] Mineral Fields signed three contracts worth $885 million which would give the mining house access to the vast metal reserves of Shaba province. [...] Unlike the days when President Mobutu farmed Zaire's economy as a personal cash cow, the businessmen said that there was no smell of corruption in meetings with the rebel financial chiefs. Michael McMurrough, chief executive and chairman of American Mineral Fields, said: 'AMF has not paid anyone anything.' Kenneth MacLeod, president of International Panorama Resource Corporation of Vancouver, said: 'We are going to capitalise on the current strife by increasing our presence and our land holdings in the country'."
Books
- Deneault, Alain; Abadie, Delphine; Sacher, William. 2008. Noir Canada: pillage, corruption et criminalité en Afrique, Montréal: Écosociété.
- McCullum, Hugh. 2006. Africa's broken heart: Congo, the land the world forgot Geneva: WCC Publications.
- Drohan, Madeleine. 2003. Making a killing: how and why corporations use armed force to do business, Toronto: Random House Canada.
Video
- Michel, Thierry. 2009. Katanga Business, documentary film on DVD, 120 min., Liège, Belgium: Les Films de la Passerelle. Versions in English, French, Dutch. Surveys the industrial and artisanal mining industry in Katanga Province, including interviews with Canadian lawyer Paul Fortin and First Quantum Minerals President, Clive Newall. Published under the same title as a book with photographs by Thierry Michel and text by Colette Braeckman et al., Bruxelles: Tournesol conseils, 2009.
External links
- "Will Canada do anything about conflict minerals?", transcript of the Globe and Mail live forum with Paul Dewar, MP and others, Last updated Tuesday, Dec. 07, 2010
- Marie Mazalto. 2009. "Chapter 5. Governance, Human Rights and Mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo", in: Mining in Africa: Regulation and Development, Bonnie Campbell, ed., Pluto Press
- EDC (Export Development Canada) co-hosts Workshop on Mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (June 2007)
- Toby A.A. Heaps. 2006. "Canadian Companies in the Congo and the OECD Guidelines", Corporate Knights Magazine, Issue 16
- Groupe de recherche sur les activités minières en Afrique (GRAMA), L'Université du Québec à Montréal
- Liste d'entreprises congolaises (RDC)
See also
- Foreign relations of CanadaForeign relations of CanadaThe foreign relations of Canada are Canada's relations with other governments and peoples. Canada's most important relationship, being the largest trading relationship in the world, is with the United States...
- Mining Companies of Canada
- Economy of the Democratic Republic of the CongoEconomy of the Democratic Republic of the CongoSparsely populated in relation to its area, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is home to a vast potential of natural resources and mineral wealth, its untapped deposits of raw minerals are estimated to be worth in excess of US$ 24 trillion, yet the economy of the DRC has declined drastically...
- Mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Canada–Democratic Republic of the Congo relationsCanada–Democratic Republic of the Congo relationsCanada–Democratic Republic of the Congo relations concern the bilateral relationship between the countries of Canada and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2009, the D.R...