The Inauguration of the Musompo Trading Centre set for August 2020 (Artisanal mineral market in Kolwezi) DRC
“We are continuing with the ambition of reforming the artisanal mining sector by commissioning the Musompo Trading Centre planned at the end of August 2020 and the servicing of the EAZs, in order to clean up the sector, empowering its players and give employment to more than one compatriot because it also constitutes an investment in the diversified activities that will take place there. With the Trading Centre, all clandestine and unplanned depots and counters will be closed and destroyed and all transactions will only take place at the Trading Centre,” said Richard Muyej, taking stock of the provincial government’s action over the past year.
It should be noted that the Musompo Trading Centre has been chosen by the National Ministry of Industry as one of the sites of the South Axis Special Economic Zone for heavy and manufacturing industries focused on copper, cobalt and others. “This is a very good thing for the Province and its future,” says the governor of Lualaba.
The governor of Lualaba initiated a major reform in artisanal mining in his province. This reform was launched after consultation with all parties involved in the sector. Therefore, the main objectives pursued by this reform are:
- To put an end to anarchic exploitation in residential sites as well as industrial zones, which risked causing harm to our mineral trade in the marketing phase;
- Define a programme to relocate diggers to artisanal mining areas, which are sites for cooperatives with excellence;
- Create trading centres to meet sellers and buyers of craft mining products from the AEZs, solve recurring problems with grade minerals, humidity, dry weight and radioactivity by creating independent certification laboratories;
- Ensure the physical and documentary traceability of the good minerals to the trading centre;
- Ending the proliferation of illegal deposits in residential neighbourhoods and along the road or in private concessions;
- Organize a one-stop-shop to properly recover taxes and royalties.
