State to relaunch operations in gold purchase in the artisanal sector to limit fraud- DRC

The Ministry of Mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo organized from July 8 to 10 in Kinshasa, the States General of its sector. The Congolese economy is mainly based on mines. But this sector is undermined by several evils including fraud which does not allow the Public Treasury to benefit from the finances generated by the exploitation of mineral resources.

The States General in which, among others, mining industrialists from the private and public sector, government experts, made a hundred recommendations to boost this sector. Among these recommendations, it was “asked the central bank of the Congo to present a plan for resuming artisanal gold purchase operations, as part of the fight against fraud, with the ministry. mines “.

Although governed by law, artisanal gold mining is beyond the control of the Congolese state, resulting in the illegal exits of packages of this raw material from several mining sites.  

“The craft industry has more production than the industrialist. Mastering artisanal mining is important. There is no artisanal mining, there are small, medium and large mines. And it is important that we can modernize the way of working in the so-called artisanal sector, ”Al Kitenge told ACTUALITE.CD.

And to add, “we finally have a minister who realizes the importance of what we are losing and she decides to structure with the central bank a solution in order to give the country the real reserves”.

But the artisanal sector faces several challenges, the main one being security. Several gold mining sites are invaded by armed groups. This is particularly the case in the provinces of Ituri, South Kivu and Maniema, in the east of the country.

“All armed groups only live on gold and other minerals because they acted in a market. As soon as you cut them off from the market, they won’t be able to continue. The first thing with everything we have as a military offensive, cut them off from the market, dislodge them and put this activity back into the hands of the people who can do it professionally, ”explained Mr. Kitenge, in a moment on the need. to “convert craftsmen in the artisanal mining sector into the modern agro-industrial sector”.

The Minister of Mines Antoinette N’samba Kalambayi has made a commitment to bring to the government the resolutions formulated by the States General of Mines “for their application in strict compliance with the mining code”.

In 2019, a report by the natural resources commission of the CENCO (National Episcopal Conference of Congo) indicated, for example, that since 2015, 84.6% of the minerals exploited by artisanal workers in North Kivu, in the territories of Beni and Lubero, mainly Gold, are doomed to go underground and at the same time escape the Congolese state. And to illustrate the fraud in this sector, in the first half of 2020, the government had only succeeded in tracing only 3 kg of gold.