Provincial Division of Mines and Geology caused the loss of several million dollars in mining royalties-DRC

The Provincial Division of Mines and Geology of North Kivu would be at the base of the losses of several million dollars recorded by the Public Treasury of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), during the 2019 budget year.

While the price per ton of tin was trading at a low of 16,800 USD per ton on the international market, the Provincial Division of Mines and Geology of North Kivu applied the amount of 7,820 USD per ton. , warns the Dynamique des Femmes des Mines (DYFEM), in a report entitled ” Industrial mining in Bisie: an opportunity for sustainable development”.

The conclusions of the study reveal with regard to the mining royalty that during its first year of production (2019), the ABM SA project should have paid to the Central Government, to the province of North Kivu as well as to the sector of Wanyanga very significant revenues if the base on which the mining royalty was calculated took into account the price applied on the international market and the quantity exported from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The selling price applied by the Provincial Division of Mines and Geology of North Kivu was 7,820 USD per ton, while the lowest price on the market provided by the company in its 2019 report is 16,800 USD. USD per ton.

By applying the price of 7,820 USD per ton, the amount of the mining royalty due by ABM SA for this year 2019 was 2,061,286 USD, whereas with the market price, that of 16,800 USD per ton, ABM SA should have paid the sum of 4,428,116.88 USD.

Thus, the amount of the mining royalty calculated on the basis of the first price would be 29,678,462.45 USD; while the one calculated with the price declared by the company would be 10,527,552 USD.

The estimates made by the DYFEM team on the endowment for contribution to community development projects showed that the company MPC (replaced by ABM SA) should invest the amount of 5,760,000 USD between 2006 and 2015 in development projects local under the agreement signed in December 2006 between the representatives of the MPC company and the representatives of the communities.

In this report, the DYFEM team notes that it was unable to access data relating to the use of these funds in the financing of local development projects, despite all the efforts made.

Between 2016 and 2018, ABM SA declared to the EITI to have paid the sum of 22,182,557 USD instead of 1,840,000 USD in accordance with the agreement, i.e. a difference of almost 20,342,557 USD.