Glencore's Congo tragedy highlights security conundrum for miners

Aion-Tech Solutions

01/07/2019 12:00

(Repeats story first published on Sunday)
    By Edward McAllister and Mitra Taj
    DAKAR/LIMA, June 30 (Reuters) - The deaths of 43 illegal
miners at a Glencore  GLEN.L  facility in Congo last week
highlighted a growing challenge for mining companies struggling
to secure sites from small-scale prospectors digging for cobalt,
copper and other minerals.
    Many mines span hundreds of square kilometers across rural
terrains, a tantalizing prospect for illegal miners, also known
as artisanal miners, who break into sites in search of metals,
some of which end up in electric cars and other products.
    But even as last Thursday's tragedy ratcheted up pressure on
companies to make changes to security and community outreach,
industry consultants and analysts say the task will be difficult
given the geographic constraints and economic challenges faced
by the world's estimated 40 million artisanal miners. 
    "If people do not have work or an industry, they rely on
this activity," said Patrick Hickey, a mining industry
consultant who has worked at mines across Africa.
    "Where you can fence off the mine site, you do. Where you
can't, you try to use security. But it is difficult."
    Thursday's tragedy occurred in Democratic Republic of
Congo's Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) concession, which spans
kilometers of flat terrain on the outskirts of Kolwezi in the
southern part of the country. The mine is operated by Kamoto
Copper Company (KCC), a joint venture between
Glencore-controlled Katanga Mining Ltd  KAT.TO  and the
state-owned Gecamines. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N23Z2W6
    Only part of the perimeter, which abuts densely-populated
residential areas, is protected by fencing, giving the local
population easy access. Young men can often be seen just outside
the mine carrying shovels and sacks brimming with freshly-mined
ore to nearby trading depots dominated by Chinese buyers. 
    Private contractors provide most of the security, but
activists say they are often ineffective and easily bought off
by the miners in exchange for ignoring trespassers.
    About 2,000 illegal miners regularly access the site,
Glencore said.    
    Congo's military plans to deploy troops to the KCC site, as
it did in late June when it sent hundreds of soldiers to protect
the Tenke copper and cobalt mine, which is owned by China
Molybdenum Co Ltd  603993.SS .  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N23Q330 
    "Security is not a highly-paid profession, so if you can get
kickbacks from turning a blind eye, it can make you money," said
Nicholas Garrett of RCS Global, a consultancy which audits
mining supply chains.
    In South Africa, there are an estimated 30,000 illegal
miners providing one of the biggest sources of illicit gold on
the continent, with an output of around 14 billion rand ($994.4
million) per year, according to ENACT, which conducts research
into transnational organized crime.
    The illegal miners are known in Zulu as "zama-zamas," which
loosely translates as "those who try to get something from
nothing."
    Sibanye-Stillwater  SGLJ.J , which spent millions upgrading
its security infrastructure, found almost 1,400 zama-zamas in
its Cooke gold mine during a 2017 security sweep.
    "We have been continually arresting and trying to control
access to the mines, but it's been difficult," said
Sibanye-Stillwater spokesman James Wellsted.

    CONCESSIONS
    Governments and industry have been setting aside concessions
for artisanal mining, but there are not nearly enough of those
concessions to employ all the artisanal miners, many of whom
continue to target larger deposits.
    Miners operating in risky jurisdictions, as a result, employ
a variety of measures - ranging from antagonistic to
collaborative - to safeguard operations. 
    Such steps include the use of private security with military
or police backgrounds; fences or other physical structures;
regular border patrols; and even allowing artisanal miners
access to certain areas of their operations, according to
presentations from Barrick Gold Corp  ABX.TO , Freeport-McMoRan
Inc  FCX.N , Kinross Gold Corp  K.TO  and Newmont Goldcorp Corp
 NEM.N .
    Even still, artisanal miners slip through surveillance. In
2013, two were killed at Barrick's Porgera mine in Papua New
Guinea in a confrontation with police after a large crowd of
illegal miners gathered at the mine, Barrick said at the time. 
    A spokeswoman for Barrick declined to comment on the
company's latest security measures.
    
    'SHORT-TERM SOLUTION'
    Delphin Monga, provincial secretary of the UCDT union, which
represents KCC employees, said police fired teargas a few months
ago to try to chase off the diggers, but it was only a temporary
deterrence.
    Asked whether deploying the army would be an effective
deterrent, Monga said: "Maybe as a short-term solution. But the
dissuasive measures taken by the police and army do not
intimidate the diggers."
    Some human rights activists say that armed responses to
artisanal miners only exacerbate tensions with locals and ignore
the underlying problems, which include the failure of
large-scale mines to meaningfully contribute to development
gains for the impoverished communities. 
    Artisanal miners "are the world's hidden suppliers, and
they're working in horrible conditions," said Karen Hayes of
Pact, an NGO working across Africa to bolster supply chain
transparency. "We already buy their minerals, whether we
recognize it or not."    
    In South America, Fura Gems Inc  FURA.V  says securing all
of its rural land in Colombia would be virtually impossible, so
the emerald miner allows access in some areas, though it has
promised to close a network of illegal tunnels.
    "A mining company can't do the job police do," said Luis
Rivera, an executive with Gold Fields Ltd  GFIJ.J  and president
of the Institute of Mining Engineers of Peru.
($1 = 14.0787 rand)

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FACTBOX-Glencore mining fatalities in recent years   
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N23Y14T
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 (Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota, Tanisha Heiberg in
Johannesburg, Ed McAllister and Aaron Ross in Dakar, Nichola
Saminather in Toronto, Ernest Scheyder in Houston and Mitra Taj
in Lima; Writing by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Paul Simao)
 ((ernest.scheyder@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @ErnestScheyder;
+1-713-210-8512; Reuters Messaging:
ernest.scheyder.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))