Mining Concessions in the DR Congo (August 2010)
IPIS has produced an interactive web map of all mining concessions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The current map follows a concession map we published in August 2009 (as an addition to our Interactive Map of Militarised Mining Areas in the Kivus – MiMiKi), which shows concession areas in the Kivu provinces.
The idea for an extended and updated version of the map came about during exchanges IPIS had with Civil Society organisations and policy makers, who frequently expressed their need for a concession map of the whole of the DRC. There is clearly an information gap as even people in the field, including artisanal miners, often do not know who holds the official mining title for the area they work in. Consequently, IPIS hopes that this concession map will make a useful tool for policy making and advocacy, and is exploring how to make it available in areas without internet connection.
The data on this map are official and public data from the Cadastre Minier (CaMi) of the DRCongo, showing the situation as it was on 27 July 2010.
The map shows the concession areas for the whole of the DR Congo. The concession areas can be clicked, making appear a pop-up window containing information on the concession holder, type, date of expiry and several other data. For five provinces in the east of the DRC, North Kivu, South Kivu, Maniema, Katanga and Orientale, the map also contains detailed cartographic data (places, administrative boundaries, roads, rivers, protected areas, airports). The latter are based on vector data from the ‘Référentiel Géographique Commun’ (RGC, www.rgc.cd).
The map contains an enormous amount of data and therefore patience is required when opening the file to allow all data to load. We recommend users to wait for a minute after opening the map, before they start exploring it (see instructions below).
NEW: In the fall of 2011 the Cadastre Minier (CAMI) launched a beta version of the DRC’s online mining cadastre portal, accessible from this link. Currently the data is updated on a monthly basis and it is anticipated that a live feed will be implemented in due course. The beta site presently provides ability to view the DRC’s mining cadastre data in a simple mapping interface as well as to search tenements by company name and identify on the map. For further information please contact CAMI at info@cami.cd.
Data
When clicking on a concession area, an information window will pop up with the following information (in French):
N° Titre: the concession number
Titulaire: the concession holder (company or individual)
Type: the concession type:
PE Permis d’Exploitation = Exploitation Permit
PER Permis d’Exploitation des Rejets = Tailings Processing Permit
PEPM Permis d’Exploitation de Petite Mine = Small-scale Mining Exploitation Permit
AECP Autorisation d’Exploitation de Carrière Permanente = Permanent Quarry Exploitation Authorisation
PR Permis de Recherches = Exploration Permit
ZEA Zone d’Exploitation Artisanale = Artisanal Exploitation Area
ZRG Zone de Recherches Géologiques = Geological Exploration Area
ARPC Autorisation de Recherches des Produits de Carrières = Quarry Product Exploration Authorisation
A leaflet from the Cadastre Minier giving an overview of the different types of concessions (in French) is available here.
Ressource: the mineral(s) for which the concession is valid
Statut: the status of the concession (active, application, approved application, in the course of renewal, in the course of revocation for non-payment, etc…)
Demandé: date when the concession was applied for
Octroyé: date when the concession was granted
Expire: date when the concession expires
Nbre Carrés: the number of squares the concession area is composed of (1 square = 84.955 ha)
How to use the web map
- The map includes a legend (button ‘Legend’ on the screen below).
- You can change the level of detail on the map by zooming in or out. The map is available at three different scales: 1:10,000,000 (initial view), 1:2,500,000 and 1:750,000. To zoom in or out, move the scroll slide (in the bottom left corner) up or down, or just move the mouse wheel up or down. For the sake of clarity, several map elements, notably the names of features, are hidden while viewing at the largest scale but usually revealed when zooming in.
The names of the companies or individuals holding a concession are not represented on the map itself, to avoid overloading it with even more names. You will see these names when you move your mouse over the concession areas and, of course, when you click on these areas (see below).
- You can easily navigate through the map by dragging it with the mouse pointer. After a double click, the clicked-on position is displayed at the centre of the map.
- Information on a map element can be retrieved by clicking on the item directly on the map (the mouse pointer should change in a hand first). An information window will pop up.
- The map features an advanced geographic and thematic search function that locates strings of characters.
- You can also search for data by using the list on the right-hand side of the screen (you can close it and make it reappear by clicking on the ‘Lists’ button on the screen below). The map will centre on the map element you have chosen from the list(s) and automatically an information window pops up.
Since the lists of this map are very long, it takes a while for them to appear when you click on the ‘Lists’ button. Be patient… The same when you switch from one list to another.In the ‘MINING CONCESSIONS: TITULAIRE’ list there is 1 item for each concession, this means that a company name appears as many times as the number of concessions it holds.
- When clicking the ‘Overview’ button a useful overview map appears in an extra window at the top left corner of the screen.
