DRC: ERG, owner of Boss Mining, protests against ban on its activities for environmental pollution
For ERG (Eurasian Resources Group), its subsidiary Boss Mining is not responsible for the environmental damage caused recently near the copper mine.
This Luxembourg-based company is therefore asking the Congolese authorities to reconsider their decision to ban Boss Mining’s activities for environmental pollution.
“The incident occurred far from the treatment plant, which excludes any form of pollution […]. The water analyzes carried out following the disaster confirmed the absence of pollution”, defends ERG Africa, quoted by the Reuters agency.
For the facts, in March 2023, heavy rains caused the dumping of mine tailings in the Kakanda River and in the nearby town.
Attributing this pollution to the company, the Ministry of Mines questioned in particular the non-updated environmental management plan of the company which resumed operations at the mine in November 2022, after three years of suspension.
In a correspondence dated May 29, 2023 addressed to the Managing Director of Boss Mining SA that the Minister of Mines, Antoinette N’Samba Kalambayi, notified this mining company of the “temporary suspension” of all its mining activities for a period of 3 months with the possibility of renewal of this measure if nothing is done to stop environmental pollution.
“I learned through my services of the succession of incidents that occurred on your site respectively on the night of March 21 to 22 and April 9 of the current year, having caused enormous environmental damage but also losses in human lives; this situation could have been avoided or at least mitigated, if, before resuming your activities in November 2022, you had taken care to audit your site environmental management system, with a view to adapting it to current conditions and include all these changes in an updated environmental plan, ”wrote the boss of the mines in her letter.
Boss Mining is a mining company located in KAKANDA, former mining site of GECAMINES in the District of LUBUDI, 60 km from the town of LIKASI. It produces copper cathodes and cobalt concentrates.
It remains one of the main assets of Eurasian Resources Group (ERG). Its activities include open pit mining, crushing, upgrading, concentrating and sorting facility. Boss Mining produces an average of 21,600 tons of copper and 3,600 tons of cobalt hydroxide per year.
