Malaysia Smeting Corporation may take over mineral concessions in Maniema, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces from the government-owned miner Sakima, DR Congo Mines Minister Martin Kabwelulu told Bloomberg News. “We expect to proceed with the total liquidation of Sakima and create a joint venture with MSC beginning in the part of Maniema that is most secure,” Kabewelulu said. “In North Kivu and South Kivu, it will start later.”
MSC, which produced about 15% of its tin from Congolese ore in 2010, announced the outlines of a deal on the Bursa Malaysia after a May 19 meeting with Kabwelulu and President Joseph Kabila in Kinshasa. Kabila said he wants to boost state revenue and improve labour conditions by replacing independent miners, who account for almost all of Congo’s tin ore, with larger mining companies.
Later this year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission will also release new rules requiring US companies to disclose whether tin, gold, tungsten or coltan used in their products could have supported conflict in DR Congo. The country’s government has been working with the United Nations and groups including the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to help cut ties between minerals and armed rebels. MSC will contribute towards a tagging program managed by ITRI to help legitimize the tin ore and coltan trade in eastern Congo, Kabwelulu said. The $10 million per year due diligence scheme is mainly funded by exporters and other local sources.
In a separate report, Reuters said that tin ore exports from DRC have slumped since April in response to new buying rules imposed by electronics industry groups. In North Kivu province, tin ore exports dropped to 21 tonnes in April from 1,148 tonnes in March, according to Paul Mabolia, the head of Promines, a World Bank-backed project to reform mining governance. He noted that the Bisie tin mine, which was the largest in the region and which had been under the control of government army elements, was now free of soldiers but that production had crashed more than 90%.
“Traceability requires money, we normally get this through taxes,” he said, adding that without buyers many people would be forced to find alternative livelihoods to mining and that incidents of smuggling were already being reported. Trying to persuade consumers of Congolese minerals to remain engaged in Congo is crucial to the success of the fight against conflict minerals, Mabolia said.
