The report ‘Mining activity and mineral trade in the Kivu hinterland’ was commissioned by the Directorate General for Development (DG DEV) of the European Commission and aims to fill an information gap by identifying the principal mining sites and analysing the trade networks of the ‘eastern hinterland’ of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), located in Maniema, North Katanga and Orientale Province, and the transport networks from these territories to the regional hubs of Bukavu, Goma, Butembo and Bunia.
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The web maps
Sources
Most of the data on mining areas was gathered by teams of local researchers working for independent organisations, who were sent out in the field with GPS devices and questionnaires. Other cartographic data, such as places, administrative boundaries, roads, protected areas, airports, etc. are mainly based on the vector data of the ‘Référentiel Géographique Commun’ (RGC, www.rgc.cd). Rivers, and a few locations in Maniema, are based on vector data of the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) in Tervuren.
Data
When clicking on a mineral symbol or choosing an item from the list “MINING AREAS”, an information window will pop up with the following data:
- Name: name of the mining site, or of the support village (name followed by “(sv)”)
- Support village (sv) or sites: support village of the site in the previous item, or, if the previous item contains the name of a support village, the sites corresponding to it
- Longitude & Latitude: geographic location in decimal degrees
- Origin: how the location was determined: GPS, digitisation, old basis (old map), approximation; followed by “(sv)” if the coordinates are those of the support village
- Geographic source: IPIS partner or other
- Territory – Collectivity – Groupement: administrative location
- Distance between site and support village: in km or hours walking
- Mineral 1 (M1), Mineral 2 (M2), Mineral 3 (M3): minerals mined, in order of importance
- Price M1, M2, M3 (900 FC = 1$): price at which the minerals were sold at the time of the field research (second half of June 2010), in Congolese francs (FC) or US dollars ($)
- Production M1, M2, M3: estimate of the daily or weekly production
- Number of workers: estimate by the mine operator of the number of artisanal miners and other workers assisting with the extraction; on the maps, the size of the mineral symbols is based on the number of workers (although the production of a mining site is not necessarily exactly related to the number of workers present, it gives a fair idea of its importance)
- Armed Group 1 (AG1), Armed Group 2 (AG2), Armed group 3 (AG3): elements of a rebel group, of the Government army (FARDC) or of the National Police (PNC) that are present at a site or at least frequent it
- Commander AG1, AG2, AG3
- Activity AG1, AG2, AG3: what is the armed group’s business at the site? (Do they tax the miners? Do they dig themselves? Do they force people to work for them? Do they hire crews of workers without using force? Do they run the site and all activities? Are they paid by others to secure the site? Etc.)
- Customary land owner (Katanga, Maniema) or Provincial permit holder (AFM) (Orientale)
- Title holder (CaMi, 27 July 2010): the company or individual holding an official mining title for the area, issued by the Cadastre Minier (situation on 27 July 2010); cf. our Concessions map at www.ipisresearch.be/mine-concessions-drc.php
- Buyers (négociants, comptoirs): traders or trading houses known to buy minerals at the site
- Transport routes – Destination (DRC): routes along which minerals are transported and their destination in the DRC
- Remarks: additional information
Abbreviations
- AFM: Administrateur de Foyer Minier (Mining Site Administrator)
- FARDC: Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo)
- PE: Permis d’Exploitation (Exploitation Permit)
- PNC: Police Nationale Congolaise (Congolese National Police)
- PR: Permis de Recherches (Exploration Permit)
- sv: support village
- ZEA: Zone d’Exploitation Artisanale (Artisanal Exploitation Area)
- ZRG: Zone de Recherches Géologiques (Geological Exploration Area)
How to use the web maps
- The maps include a legend (button ‘Legend’ on the screen below).
- You can change the level of detail on the maps by zooming in or out. The maps are available at three different scales: 1:3,000,000 (initial view), 1:1,000,000 and 1:100,000. 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 names of features, are hidden while viewing at the largest scale but usually revealed when zooming in. You can see the names of mining sites or support villages at all scales though when you hold the mouse pointer over a mineral symbol (map tip).
- You can easily navigate through a map by dragging it with the mouse pointer. After a double click, the clicked-on position is displayed at the centre of the map.
- Data on a mining area can be retrieved by clicking on its mineral symbol directly on the map (the mouse pointer should change in a hand first). An information window will pop up.
- The maps feature an advanced geographic and thematic search function that locates strings of characters. It is possible that the search functions do not work on your computer (depends on the browser you use or on specific settings of your computer). Use the ‘Lists’ function instead if you want to look for a certain mining area: see below.
- You can also search for data by clicking on the ‘Lists’ button on the screen below. The map will centre on the mining area you have chosen from the list and automatically an information window pops up.
- When clicking the ‘Overview’ button a useful overview map appears in an extra window at the top left corner of the screen.
Please note:
- On the map of Northern Katanga, all mineral symbols correspond to a mining area located with GPS.
- On the Maniema map, most mineral symbols are placed on the support village (sv) of the different mining sites. When clicking on the mineral symbol of such a support village, in the information window a collective overview of the sites corresponding to that village is given. Often though separate data is available for all or some of the individual sites, which is indicated as “See List MINING AREAS for: … (name of sites)”. Open the list by clicking the ‘Lists’ button on the screen below and select the name of the site to see this detailed information.
- Also on the map of Southeastern Orientale, a number of mineral symbols refer to support villages, with an information window giving a collective overview of the sites corresponding to it. For several sites, notably in the Maiko National Park, in the Bakaiko Groupement of Mambasa Territory and along the Ituri River, the – often approximate – location and some data is available, but no name. So when you hold the mouse pointer over their mineral symbol, the map tip box will be empty, but you can still click on the symbol and see the available data in an information window.
