Social impacts of artisanal cobalt mining in Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo Freiburg, November, 2011 Authors: Öko-Institut e.V. Freiburg Head Office Nicolas Tsurukawa P.O. Box 17 71 79017 Freiburg, Germany Street Address Siddharth Prakash Merzhauser Str. 173 79100 Freiburg Andreas Manhart Phone +49 (0) 761 – 4 52 95-0 Fax +49 (0) 761 – 4 52 95-288 Darmstadt Office Rheinstr. 95 64295 Darmstadt, Germany Phone +49 (0) 6151 – 81 91-0 Fax +49 (0) 6151 – 81 91-133 Berlin Office Schicklerstr. 5-7 10179 Berlin, Germany Phone +49 (0) 30 – 40 50 85-0 Fax +49 (0) 30 – 40 50 85-388 Social impacts of artisanal cobalt mining in Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo Table of contents List of tables V List of figures V Acknowledgements VIII List of acronyms and abbreviations VIII Executive summary 1 1 Introduction 5 2 Background information 6 2.1 The global cobalt market 6 2.1.1 Demand 6 2.1.2 Production 6 2.1.3 Reserves 8 2.1.4 Prices and market trends 9 2.2 The Congolese context 10 2.2.1 Geology and geography of Cobalt in the Copperbelt 10 2.2.2 History of mining activities in Katanga 14 3 Methodological approach and objectives 17 4 Scope of the study 18 4.1 The cobalt supply-chains 18 4.2 Current stakeholders 19 4.2.1 Artisanal miners 19 4.2.2 State-owned companies 21 4.2.3 Private mining companies 22 4.2.4 Traders 23 4.2.5 The State 24 4.2.6 Assaying companies 26 4.2.7 Local Communities 26 III Social impacts of artisanal cobalt mining in Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo 5 Impact on workers 27 5.1 Safe and healthy working conditions 27 5.2 Freedom of association and right to collective bargaining 29 5.3 Equality of opportunity and treatment and fair interaction 30 5.4 Forced Labour 31 5.5 Child Labour 31 5.6 Remuneration 33 5.7 Working hours 35 5.8 Employment security 36 5.9 Social security 37 5.10 Professional development 38 6 Impact on local communities 39 6.1 Safe and healthy living conditions 39 6.2 Human rights 41 6.3 Indigenous Rights 42 6.4 Community Engagement 43 6.5 Socio-economic opportunities 43 7 Impact on society 44 7.1 Public commitments to sustainability issues 44 7.2 Unjustifiable risks 45 7.3 Employment creation 46 7.4 Anti-corruption efforts and non-interference in sensitive political issues 48 7.5 Contribution to national economy 49 7.6 Contribution to national budget 51 7.7 Impacts on conflicts 52 7.8 Transparent business information 52 8 Social impacts on a product basis 53 9 Final conclusions and recommendations 55 10 Literature 59 IV Social impacts of artisanal cobalt mining in Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo List of tables Table 1: Price grids for heterogenite in some trade houses in 2006–2007. Sources: ARDERI 2006 (quoted in RRN 2007) and PACT 2007 34 Table 2: Estimation of the budget for SAESSCAM community development projects 44 Table 3: Estimated numbers for full-time occupation opportunities, functional unit production and working hours/functional unit ratio for artisanal cobalt mining in 2010. 47 Table 4: Estimated number of artisanal miners in each deposit group of the Copperbelt. Source: calculated from PACT 2010, Vanbrabant et al. 2009 and SAESSCAM 2010 48 Table 5: Access to different media (at least once a week) as a percentage of population categories. Source: DRC ministry of health 2007 (MH) 52 Table 6: Working minutes of artisanal cobalt extraction in the DRC per product 54 Table 7: Social indictor values of artisanal cobalt mining in the DRC for selected cobalt containing products 55 List of figures Figure 1: Share of cobalt demand by end-use application in 2009. Values are in tons of refined cobalt. Source: CDI 2010. 6 Figure 2: Repartition of world land-based cobalt production from 1995 to 2010. Source: USGS 1995-2010 7 Figure 3: Repartition of world refined cobalt production (2004, 2008) and world cobalt refinery capacity (2008). Source: USGS 2008a 8 Figure 4: World land-based cobalt reserves (2010). Sources: USGS 2010, Ministry of Mining 2007, RELCOF 2005 9 Figure 5: Cobalt price trends from year 2000 to 2010. Source: Arnold Magnetic Technologies Corp. 2010, quoted by USDE 2010 10 Figure 6: Map of the Copperbelt. Sources: RGC 2010. Additional data georeferenced from maps of Anvil Mining 2011, Dewaele et al. 2008, GoogleMap 2011, Hanssen et al. 2005, TCEMCO 2009, UN-DPI 2000. Coordinate system of georeferenced data may differ from the RGC 11 V Social impacts of artisanal cobalt mining in Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo Figure 7: Sketch diagrams illustrating the three major steps in the formation of secondary oxidized Co ores in Katanga (vertical scales are exaggerated). Source: Decrée et al. 2010a 13 Figure 8: (upper left) Cristal of carrollite, cobalt sulphide (Katanga, DRC) 14 Figure 9: (upper right) Cu & Co mineralised rock with silicified gangue in the ZEA of Kawama (Katanga, DRC) 14 Figure 10: (lower left) pure heterogenite from Kabolela (Katanga, DRC) (collector's item) 14 Figure 11: (lower right) Lubumbashi tailing (Katanga, DRC) 14 Figure 12: Evolution of GECAMINES Cobalt production related to GECAMINES Copper production, world prices, and private operators’ Cobalt production. Sources: USGS 2009 & GECAMINES 2010 15 Figure 13: (left) Digger in the ZEA of Kawama, (Katanga, DRC) 19 Figure 14: (right) Women washing ores in Kolwezi (Katanga, DRC) 19 Figure 15: Flow-chart of the artisanally mined cobalt in Katanga and scope of the study 20 Figure 16: Geographic distribution of copper-cobalt deposits and industrial basins. Deposit groups delimitations on the figure are not accurate. Sources: RGC 2010, TCEMCO 2009. 21 Figure 17: Links between administration bodies and other stakeholders in the artisanal mining sector 25 Figure 18: (left) Artisanal mining gallery in Katanga, DRC. Credit: Pr. Mota Ndongo K. E. C. 2009, University of Lubumbashi (Katanga, DRC) 28 Figure 19: (right) Artisanal mining gallery with support benches in Kolwezi (Katanga, DRC). Credit: B. Litsani 2010, Congo Direct (Katanga, DRC) 28 Figure 20: Women and children washing ores near Likasi (Katanga, DRC). Credit: T. De Putter 2010, Royal Museum of Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium 32 Figure 21: Warning sign in the region of Kolwezi (Katanga, DRC): “forbidden to women and children under the age of 18”. Credit: T. De Putter 2010, Royal Museum of Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium 33 Figure 22: Average time spent in artisanal mining and trading (s = 142). Source: PACT 2010 37 VI Social impacts of artisanal cobalt mining in Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo Figure 23: Map of the uraniferous sectors of the Copperbelt. Source: Lubala Toto et al. 2011 40 Figure 24: Sanitary follow-up in Kidimudilo (Katanga, DRC). Credit: T. De Putter 2010, Royal Museum of Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium 41 Figure 25: Heterogenite and metatorbernite (cobalt ore and uranium ore) in a silicified rock from Shinkolobwe (Katanga, DRC). Credit: T. De Putter 2010, Royal Museum of Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium 45 Figure 26: Diggers loading 50 kg bags of ore at the artisanal mine of Kawama (Katanga, DRC). Credit: T. De Putter 2010, Royal Museum of Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium. 50 VII Social impacts of artisanal cobalt mining in Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank:  Mr. Thierry DE PUTTER and Ms. Sophie DECRÉE of the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervueren for their precious advice and information, as well as their invaluable photographic database.  Mr. Benjamin RUBBERS of the sociology Department of Liège University for availing interesting documentation.  Mrs. Christine FADEUR of the Rural Economy Department of Gembloux Agro Bio Tech for providing her kind help.  Liège University and the European Leonardo Da Vinci program for the financial support provided to achieve this study. List of acronyms and abbreviations ANR Agence Nationale de Renseignements ARDERI Association régionale pour le développement intégré ASADHO Association Africaine de Défense des Droit de l’Homme CADTM Comité d'Annulation de la Dette du Tiers Monde CAMI Cadastre Minier (Mining Registry) CASM Communities and Small scale Mining CTCPM Technical Unit for Mining Planification and Coordination CDI Cobalt Development Institute CEEC Centre d'Expertise, d'Evaluation et de Certification CEO Chief Executive Officer CF Congolese Franc CHEMAF Chemicals for Africa CISDL Centre for International Sustainable Development Law CMKK Coopérative Minière Maadini Kwa Kilimo COPIREP Comité de Pilotage de la Réforme des Entreprises du Portefeuille de l'Etat COMIDE Congolaise des Mines de Développement DGDA Customs Duties and Excises Head Office (formerly OFIDA) DGI Tax Head Office DGRAD Administrative, Judicial, State-owned and Participatory Receipts Head Office DRC Democratic Republic of Congo VIII Social impacts of artisanal cobalt mining in Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo EITI Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative EMAK Association des Exploitants Miniers Artisanaux du Katanga ENRC Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation EP Equator Principles ESIA Environmental and Social Impact Assessment EU European Union FARDC Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo FEC Fédération des Entreprises du Congo GDP Gross Domestic Product GECAMINES Générale des Carrières et des Mines GIS Geographic Information System GPRSP Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper of the WB and IMF GRI Global Reporting Initiative HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus HMS Heavy Media Separation IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency IARC International Agency for Research on Cancer ICMM International Council on Mining and Metals ICRP International Commission on Radiological Protection IFC International Finance Corporation ILO International Labour Organisation IMF International Monetary Funds IPIS International Peace Information Service ISA International Seabed Authority ISO International Organization for Standardisation LME London Metal Exchange MC Mining Code MONUC Mission des Nations Unies au Congo MPI Multi Poverty Index MR Mining Regulation MRAC Royal Museum of Central Africa, in Tervueren (Belgium) MSq Mining square mSv Milli Sievert (10^-3 Sievert) Mt Mega Ton (10^6 metric tons) NGO Non Governmental Organisation NOUCO Nouvelle Compagnie OCHA Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ODV Opération Départ Volontaires OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development IX Social impacts of artisanal cobalt mining in Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo OFIDA Office des Douanes et Accises (see DGDA) PE Exploitation Permit PER Tailings Exploitation Permit Ppm Parts per million PR Research Permit PROSA Product Sustainability Assessment RAID Rights and Accountability in Development REACH Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals RELCOF Réseau de Lutte contre la Corruption et la Fraude RGC Référentiel Géographique Commun RRN Réseau Ressources Naturelles (Natural Resources Network) SADC Southern African Development Community SAESSCAM Service d'Assistance et d'Encadrement du Small-scale Mining SCCA Sino-Congolese Cooperation Agreement SETAC Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry SICOMINES Sino-Congolaise des Mines S-LCA Social Life Cycle Assessment SMIG Salaire Minimum Interprofessionnel Garanti SODIMICO Société de Développement Minier et Industriel du Congo SOFRECO Société Française de Réalisations et Constructions. STD Sexually Transmitted Disease SX-EW Solvent Extraction-Electro-Winning TFM Tenke Fungurume Mining Tpa Ton per annum TRACE Projet Traçabilité de l'Hétérogénite UMHK Union Minière du Haut Katanga UNDP United Nations Development Program UN-DPI United Nations Department of Public Information UNEP United Nation Environment Program UNFPA United Nations Population Fund USA United States of America USDE United States Department for Energy USDS United States Department of State USGS United States Geological Survey VPHRS Voluntary Principles on Human Rights and Security WHO World Health Organisation ZEA Zone d'Exploitation Artisanale X