Chinese Miners Accused of Gold Pillage, Environmental Destruction in DRC
China’s Foreign Ministry said virtually the same thing in January when asked about similar illegal gold mining operations in a different DRC region, Kivu.
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Chinese miners are illegally extracting Congolese gold on a vast scale, according to a new report from the nonprofit PAX, which also accuses the Democratic Republic of the Congo of weak and ineffective governance.
The report, published Wednesday by the Netherlands-based peace advocacy group, said that semi-industrial gold mining operations have devastated at least 155 miles of rivers and streams in Haut-Uélé, a province where poverty is widespread and where armed conflict and violence have roiled the population for decades.
“Chinese nationals and their Congolese partners have led this gold rush, with the protection of Congolese army and police officers,” the report said.
The DRC embassy in Washington, D.C., did not respond to a request for comment.
Asked about whether Chinese nationals are engaged in illegal, semi-industrial gold mining in northeastern DRC, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said in a written statement: “I’m not aware of the specifics you mentioned. Please refer to the competent authorities for further comments.”
He added: “As a principle, the Chinese government consistently requires Chinese nationals abroad to abide by local laws and regulations and to refrain from any illegal activities.”
China’s Foreign Ministry said virtually the same thing in January when asked about similar illegal gold mining operations in a different DRC region, Kivu.
A surge in illegal gold mining in Haut-Uélé began in 2020, with Congolese mining enterprises presented as small-scale, artisanal “cooperatives” using Chinese financial and technical backing, the report said. Congolese law allows artisanal mining cooperatives of Congolese nationals to operate in certain areas if licensed.
But using satellite imagery and on-the-ground investigations, PAX documented the use of heavy machinery and large-scale excavations. In some cases, entire riverbeds were moved. Chinese entities, the report said, use the cooperatives as a front for illegal, much larger operations.
“The cooperatives are just labels,” a local official in Watsa territory, part of the province, told PAX. “The Chinese nationals are the ones who do everything.”
Photographs taken by researchers depict dredged, barren landscapes with massive mounds of excavated materials, while satellite images show gashed forest with massive orange-gold scars where rivers once flowed. The impacted waterways drain into the Congo River, part of the larger Congo Basin, a crucial counterweight to global warming and home to endangered and endemic species like pangolins, gorillas and okapi.
Courtesy: www.insideclimatenews.org