Musompo Resumes Mineral Trading as DRC Seeks to Restore Order in Artisanal Mining
DRC Reopens Musompo Trading Centre to Formalise Artisanal Copper and Cobalt Sales
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Musompo Trading Centre has resumed mineral weighing, sampling and laboratory analysis, reopening a formal sales channel for artisanal producers amid tensions over access to markets in Lualaba Province.
Mines Minister Louis Watum Kabamba supervised the restart near Kolwezi on 26 October 2026.
The operation included weighing a first truck on a rehabilitated weighbridge and restarting mineral testing at the Centre for Expertise, Evaluation and Certification of Mineral Substances (CEEC) laboratory.
The reopening has since generated initial trading activity. Entreprise Générale du Cobalt (EGC) told Bankable on 2 November that it had purchased minerals delivered by approximately 100 trucks since operations resumed. The company did not disclose the actual tonnage purchased.
Inaugurated by President Félix Tshisekedi on 5 October 2023, Musompo was intended to bring artisanal mineral transactions into a regulated system.
However, the facility remained largely underused, with cooperatives and traders citing transport distances, administrative obstacles and multiple charges.
Its restart comes against a backdrop of protests in Kolwezi, where artisanal miners have complained about difficulties selling their production following tighter controls on mineral trading and processing activities.
Authorities intend the centre to provide reliable measurements of mineral weight and metal content, giving cooperatives a clearer basis for negotiating sales. Documenting transactions should also help track mineral consignments and reduce under-declaration.
CEEC handles technical assessment, while EGC participates as a buyer. According to EGC, some deliveries have come through operations supervised by an interagency commission, while other cooperatives have voluntarily brought production to the centre.
Despite the restart, Musompo is not yet operating at full capacity. Technical adjustments remain necessary, and its stated capacity of 250 trucks per day should not be confused with the number currently processed.
Watum instructed officials to monitor operations daily, facilitate the departure of compliant trucks and prepare a sustainable management plan.
The immediate challenge is to turn the reopened infrastructure into a dependable trading channel that cooperatives can access and trust, while ensuring miners have legally authorised sites from which to supply it.
