Taxes and levies in the artisanal mining sites of South Kivu and Ituri: How much does an artisanal miner pay?

April 14, 2023

This report is the result of a large-scale field study on taxation in the artisanal mining sector in the eastern Congolese provinces of Ituri and South Kivu. The main finding is that current regulations and practices in the field not only cause mineral smuggling, which leaves some of the sector’s fiscal potential untapped at the provincial and national levels, but also constitute a source of insec


Critical minerals and the need for equal partnerships with African producers

April 12, 2023

Before Western policymakers recognized the immense strategic importance of minerals for green energy production in the 21st century, it was primarily seen as the main source of conflicts in Africa, especially when they were extracted in the African Great Lakes Region.


Analysis of the interactive map of artisanal mining areas in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo – 2022 update

November 29, 2022

In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector plays an important role in the local economy. While large-scale armed conflict over DRC’s mineral wealth has decreased significantly over the past twenty years, armed actors continuously interfere in the mining sector, and conflicts over resources at the local level are still common. Based on new minin


Joint statement on conflict & due diligence legislation

October 14, 2022

The forthcoming EU due diligence Directive is lacking in its provisions for companies that are active in conflict affected areas and should be amended to align better with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Together with 50+ signatories, IPIS calls for a heightened, conflict-sensitive due diligence process for high-risk areas that includes compliance with international humanit


Troubled waters in the Kasai. Pollution by the Angolan diamond industry and culpable negligence by the Congolese government

September 2, 2022

Late July 2021, local media first reported on the brownish-red discoloration of hundreds of kilometers of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Tshikapa and Kasai rivers due to pollution from ‘industrial diamond mines’ in neighbouring Angola. About a year after the news reached the world press, hardly anything has been heard about the environmental disaster.


Responsible mining scorecard in eastern DRC

August 31, 2022

Over  the  years,  IPIS  has  systematically  collected  mine  site  and  trade  hub  level  data  on  artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in eastern DRC. This data collection has enabled IPIS to generate a sizable database of more than 3,000 ASM sites that draws  both  on  sites  visited  by  IPIS  and  data  from  third  party  sources  including  the  Congolese  mining  cadastre and the Mini


“The Blue Mine” as a new status for qualifying mine sites in DRC. The result of successful advocacy by the Madini Project

November 23, 2021

On November 12th 2021, the National Minister of Mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Madam Antoinette N’Samba Kalambayi, signed the ministerial decree instituting a new status for the qualification /validation for artisanal mining sites: the Blue Status. Mine site qualification and validation (in line with the ICGLR’s Regional Certification Mechanism ) is a mandatory process in the DRC


New large-scale mapping project of artisanal and small-scale mining in eastern DRC launched

November 10, 2021

Over the next two years, IPIS – in partnership with USAID, Tetra Tech and the Congolese Ministry of Mines (SAEMAPE) – will undertake a large-scale mapping effort of artisanal and small-scale mining sites in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with the aim to provide observers, suppliers and policymakers with reliable data to understand artisanal mineral supply chains and conflict finan


Story map DRC

Story map of ASM sites in the DRC

October 6, 2020

Explore IPIS’ web map of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with a guided narrative In its new story map, IPIS presents data gathered on eastern DRC’s artisanal mining sector and highlights key information from its reports investigating the interactions between natural resources and conflict dynamics in the region. Data was gathered on around 2,700 mining sites, and the principal m


Story map of ASM sites in Central African Republic

June 4, 2020

Discover a new approach to IPIS’ interactive webmap of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sites in the Central African Republic through this interactive story map. In partnership with national authorities in Central African Republic (CAR) and USAID’s Artisanal Mining and Property Rights project, IPIS mapped and analysed the artisanal mining sector in the western part of the country, and outlin


Mapping ASM sites in the Central African Republic: An update from our field teams

July 2, 2019

Since February 2019, IPIS is partnering with the Artisanal Mining and Property Rights (AMPR) project from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to increase awareness and understanding of the opportunities and challenges of establishing responsible gold supply chains in the Central African Republic (CAR). As part of this project, IPIS is supporting the Ministry of Mines in mapping a


Data sharing on the socio-economic and human rights impact of mining in Tanzania

May 15, 2019

Tanzania, May 2019   Since January 2017, IPIS has been working on a project to map the socio-economic and human rights impact of mining in northwest Tanzania. This project is supported by the Belgian development cooperation under a programme on human rights and digitisation. By using mobile technologies such as mobile data collection, GIS mapping, mobile incident reporting and phone surveys throug


Training and workshop on mapping artisanal mining in Eastern DRC

February 9, 2018

(French version below) 2373 Mining sites visited, including 470 visits in the last thirteen months. 300 Roadblocks visited on a total of 798 mapped roadblocks. More than 18 000 km travelled by plane, bus, motorbikes and by foot… These are a few of the impressive results achieved by the twelve IPIS researchers in Eastern DRC.   Late January, a workshop held in Goma gave IPIS researchers an opportun


Launch of SAESSCAM database on artisanal and small-scale mining

March 3, 2017

On February 23rd, IPIS presented in Kinshasa the results of a two years project done in partnership with Pact and Estelle Levin Ltd to support the activities of SAESSCAM (“Service d’accompagnement et d’encadrement du Small-scale mining”), a service of Congolese Ministry of mines. During this project IPIS developed and launched SAESSCAM ASM database, a database to register production and socio-econ


SAESSCAM database on artisanal and small-scale mining

November 15, 2016

As part of a project to support good governance in the artisanal and small-scale mining sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), IPIS has delivered a functional web application and database for SAESSCAM agents to record production data from artisanal mining sites as well as a publicly accessible interactive webmap. IPIS is engaged in a PROMINES project, in partnership with Pact and Estell


Exploitations artisanales et à petite échelle en RD Congo

April 1, 2015

Launching ceremony of the artisanal and small scale mining project with Pact, ELL and IPIS in Kinshasa. Picture by Pact. – English below – Du 23 au 26 février, IPIS a participé au séminaire de lancement d’un nouveau projet “d’Elaboration d’un document stratégique sur les exploitations artisanales et à petite échelle”. En partenariat avec Pact et Estelle Levin LTD, IPIS travaille au renforcement de