The MiMiKi map is a snapshot of the situation as it was in the period May-July 2009.
All the armed groups deployed in the region profit directly from the mining activities. Armed groups have positions at more than half of the sites listed on the MiMiKi map where they obtain an (extra) income. The FARDC control some of the most important mining sites and do not restrain themselves from intervening in mining activities at several of those.
The FDLR are particularly active in the gold mining business. There are great differences in the level of their involvement in the mining activities. Some FDLR units force people to work for them, others do not seem to bother the local population and are only involved in trading the minerals.
After its integration into the FARDC, the (ex-)CNDP access to the mines has clearly increased. The MiMiKi map indicates that the (ex-)CNDP soldiers have installed a system of taxation in the mining centres they control.
The MiMiKi map only shows a part of the mining sector, namely the extraction of the minerals. In order to find out whether Western companies are buying Congolese minerals from which armed groups might benefit, the whole trading chain needs to be established. Therefore, in addition to the MiMiKi map, IPIS has appended a specific table containing information on the activities of the official comptoirs (mineral traders) in 2008.
It has to be noted that the MiMiKi map is not yet complete and should be considered as a work in progress. To date, more than 200 active mining sites are located on the map, including the most important. There are a few remaining blind spots (areas on which IPIS has no first hand information) on the map.
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The MiMiKi map
The MiMiKi map (Militarised Mining Areas in the Kivus) is an interactive map of the Congolese Kivu provinces containing information on the location of mines, the presence of armed groups at mining sites and a number of other variables.
A separate map, the Concessions map, shows the distribution of mining permits in the region.
How to use the MiMiKi and Concessions maps:
• You can change the level of detail on the maps by zooming in or out. The maps are available at three different scales: 1:3,500,000 (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, such as the names of the mining areas, are hidden while viewing at the largest scale but usually revealed when zooming in. Please note that every mineral symbol represents a separate mining site, on which you can click to see all the relevant information. Due to the close vicinity of some sites not all the names figure on the map, not even at the smallest scale. In one case, at Bibatama (Masisi territory), the symbols of several sites overlap, even at the smallest scale, which makes it impossible to retrieve the information on all of them by clicking on their respective symbols. To solve this problem, just click on the ‘Lists’ function on the screen below and then choose the specific site you are interested in from the list: Bibatama – Rive Gauche or Rive Droite, Bibatama – Bisunzu, block ‘Bayos’ or block ‘Baraharara’.
• 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.
• The maps feature an advanced geographic and thematic search function that locates strings of characters.
• When clicking the ‘Overview’ button a useful overview map appears in an extra window at the top left corner of the screen.
• A legend is provided for both the maps.
• You can also search for data thematically by clicking the ‘Lists’ button. The map will centre on the requested map element and automatically a table will appear with additional information on the map element.
• The same additional information on map elements can be retrieved by clicking on the item directly on the map itself (the mouse pointer should change in a hand first).
The ‘Comptoirs 2008’ table
The ‘Comptoirs 2008’ table contains information on official mineral trading houses in the Congolese Kivu provinces. It includes data on mineral export and ownership.
The table can be downloaded here.
