User:IVX8O8XVI/drcongo-mining

This article describes extractive sector companies that are incorporated in Canada and are either currently or previously active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It encompasses mining and petroleum companies, both those carrying out commercial, large-scale extraction operations, and junior exploration and development companies.

The D.R. Congo is a key destination for Canadian mining investments in Africa. According to Natural Resources Canada, Canadian mining assets in the D.R. Congo rose from Cdn.$321m. in 2001 to $864m. in 2006, and averaged $319m. over that period; these assets in 2006 represented 10.5% of total Canadian mining assets in Africa, and 1.3% of total Canadian mining assets outside of Canada, similar to the shares in 2001. Natural Resources Canada attributed the increase in investment to the return of peace in the DR Congo, and predicted Canadian investments would exceed $3 billion by 2010. There were fewer than ten Canadian-owned mineral properties in what was then Zaire during 1991-1996, while in 2005, Canadian properties in the D.R. Congo had risen to approximately thirty. According to the Canadian Embassy in Kinshasa, in 2007 there were fifteen major Canadian mining companies active in the D.R. Congo, holding 118 mining titles with investments totaling Cdn.$1.4 billion. In 2009, the D.R. Congo placed among the top ten African countries in terms of Canadian mining interests, with over thirty active properties. During 2007 to 2009, the D.R. Congo ranked either first or second-highest in terms of Canadian-owned mining assets in Africa, between Cdn.$2.7bn. and $5.2bn., or an average of 18.9% of total Canada-Africa mining assets.

When compared against other nations, Canada's mining presence in the D.R. Congo is in a distinct class for a number of reasons, including:


 * 1) Predominant Canadian corporate presence. In mid-2012, the business database Datamonitor 360 (formerly MarketLine Business Information Centre) identified twenty-five international mining companies as being active in the D.R. Congo, including a plurality of nine Canadian-domiciled mining companies (African Metals Corporation, Africo Resources, Banro Corp., Delrand Resources - formerly BRC DiamondCore Ltd., El Niño Ventures Inc., First Quantum Minerals, Lundin Mining Corp., as well as Anvil Mining, misidentified as Australian, and Katanga Mining, misidentified as British); by comparison, five were registered in Australia (BHP Billiton, Erongo Energy, Green Machine Development Corporation, Mawson West Ltd., Tiger Resources), three from South Africa (African Rainbow Minerals, AngloGold Ashanti, Chrometco Ltd.), three in the United Kingdom (Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, Mwana Africa, Randgold Resources), and one each from China (CIC Mining Resources Ltd., with Japanese Eco Energy Group's African subsidiary, Eco Project Company Ltd.), India (Jindal Steel & Power), Malaysia (Malaysia Smelting Corporation Berhad), Morocco (Managem SA) and the United States (Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold).  In 2011, the Congolese operations of two major companies, AngloGold Ashanti,  and BHP Billiton were only in the exploration phase, whereas Canada had four companies undertaking large-scale commercial extraction for several years or more: Anvil Mining, First Quantum Minerals, Katanga Mining and Lundin Mining.
 * 2) Canadian-led management of DRC's state-run mining company. As part of a World Bank programme from 2005 to 2009, Canadian lawyer Paul Fortin was managing director of the Congolese mining parastatal Gécamines, during which time there was a reduction in its labour force to nine thousand employees, and privatization involving numerous joint ventures with foreign companies, including agreements valued at $9 billion with Chinese investors. Workers protested Fortin's suspension in 2007, and he was reinstated.
 * 3) Canadian dominance in Congolese industrial copper and cobalt production.  Garrett and Lintzer reported unpublished growth projections made by the World Bank for Congolese copper and cobalt production during 2008 to 2014.  According to these data, Canadian companies First Quantum Minerals, Lundin Mining (in partnership with the US firm Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold) and Katanga Mining will have been responsible for more than two-thirds of total Congolese copper output from 2008 to 2013, and for more than two-thirds of total Congolese cobalt output from 2008 to 2014.  The only other actors cited were Belgium (George Forrest International S.A. - Kamoto Copper Company SARL) and China (unnamed).  While more than eighty percent of Katanga Province's ore processing operations and smelters were reported by the Governor, Moise Katumbi, to be Chinese-owned in 2008, and ninety percent of the product exported to China, the World Bank did not forecast Chinese production volumes to overtake that of individual Canadian-owned and Canadian-joint-owned copper operations until 2013, while Canadian-owned cobalt production is expected to exceed Chinese output until at least the year 2014.  In 2009, the tax revenue provided to the government of the D.R. Congo by one Canadian company, First Quantum Minerals, was estimated to represent between one-eighth and one-quarter of all Congolese tax revenues, making it the DRC's largest taxpayer that year, an amount equivalent to the DRC's entire health budget.  First Quantum quantified their overall contribution to the DRC economy as equivalent to 3.1% of the country's gross national income for 2009.
 * 4) Controversies and legislation.  An alleged violation of human rights involving the deaths of over seventy Congolese civilians was linked to a Canadian company, Anvil Mining, which has led to separate legal trials and investigations in the DRC, Australia and Canada. Two Canadian companies, First Quantum Minerals and Heritage Oil, have had their mining permits revoked by the DRC government since 2009, leading to ongoing international arbitration, legal proceedings, and alleged links to obstruction attempts by the Government of Canada in the negotiation of International Monetary Fund and World Bank debt relief to the DRC in 2010.  Since 2005, discussions of Canadian-Congolese mining have figured prominently in the Government of Canada's measures relating to corporate responsibility in overseas extractive sector operations, including the Subcommittee on Human Rights and Development of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade (SCFAIT) in 2005, the 2006 National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility and the Canadian Extractive Sector in Developing Countries, Private Members' Bill C-300, An Act respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas in Developing Countries, Private Member's Bill C-354, An Act to amend the Federal Courts Act (international promotion and protection of human rights) and Private Member's Bill C-571, the Trade in Conflict Minerals Act which specifically mentions the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
 * 5) Direct involvement by a former Canadian head of government.  During 1997-1998, a former Canadian prime minister, Joe Clark, was employed by First Quantum Minerals as a political advisor to the DRC's president at the time, Laurent-Désiré Kabila.   Clark was quoted by Canadian journalist Madeleine Drohan as saying: "I had very little to do with the mining operations, although I knew I was First Quantum's calling card".

Copper and cobalt
Anvil Mining Ltd. was incorporated in Canada in January 2004 and mined copper and silver commercially at the Dikulushi Mine, Katanga Province from 2002 to 2008. It mined copper at Kinsevere, Katanga Province, and undertook copper exploration in this region. The Congolese government published Anvil's 1997 mining convention. Anvil was acquired by the Chinese company Minmetals Resources in 2011.

First Quantum Minerals mined copper at Sakania in Katanga Province and its Lonshi copper mine, also in Katanga, was in production from 2001 to 2008. The company's Kolwezi tailings exploitation permit was annuled in 2009, while its Frontier and Lonshi mine operations were shut down by the Congolese government in mid-2010.

Lundin Mining holds a joint venture with Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and the Congolese parastatal, Gécamines in Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM). TFM is a copper/cobalt mine in Tenke Fungurume, Katanga Province, which has been in production since 2009.

Katanga Mining Limited has been mining copper and cobalt in Katanga Province since 2007 in collaboration with other companies. In 2004 Kinross Gold held 35% ownership of Kinross Forrest Ltd. Kinross sold 23% of its shares in Kinross Forrest in 2005. In June 2006, Kinross exchanged the remaining 11.67% interest for 5.7 million shares in Katanga Mining Ltd. In September 2006, Kinross sold all its interest in Katanga Mining Ltd. Tenke Mining Corp., of Vancouver (previously as Consolidated Eurocan Ventures), from 1996 was part of a joint venture in the Tenke Fungurume Copper/Cobalt Project in southern Katanga Province, with Phelps Dodge Corporation (acquired by Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. in 1997) and Gécamines. Lundin Mining acquired the company in 2007.

Vancouver-based El Niño Ventures acquired exploration permits in Katanga Province in 2007 and reports drilling and exploration on them.

Nubian Resources Ltd., formerly ICS Copper Systems Ltd., with offices in Abbotsford, British Columbia, has held two properties in Katanga Province since 2007, Sakania Gold and Bayombwe, and reports intentions to explore for the presence of gold, copper, and cobalt.

Africo Resources Ltd. has since 2004 held copper and cobalt concessions at Kalukundi, Katanga Province and has reported plans to begin mining.

Vancouver's Rubicon Minerals Corporation, which in 2006 held a 40% interest in Africo Resources, reported in 2005 copper exploration results at Kalukundi, Katanga Province. African Metals Corporation, based in Surrey, British Columbia, has reported exploring for copper and cobalt on its Luisha South and Kalende properties in Katanga Province since 2007.

Privately held Ivanhoe Nickel & Platinum Ltd. (Ivanplats) has reportedly been prospecting in Kolwezi, Katanga Province since 2006, and in 2009 claimed to have discovered one of the five largest copper deposits ever discovered, at its Kamoa property.

Privately owned CuCo Resources Limited, founded in 2007 and with offices in Toronto, announced in 2011 that it had raised $75 m. in private financing for 23 copper and cobalt properties held in Kisanfu and Pumpi, Katanga Province.

TEAL Exploration & Mining Incorporated undertook copper and cobalt exploration and preliminary copper production at the Lupoto Copper Project in the Kalumines Exploitation Area of Katanga Province from 2007 to 2009. . Teal was acquired in 2009 by South Africa's African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and Brazilian Vale.

International Barytex Resources Ltd. held shares from 2006 in the Shiture copper/cobalt deposits. It merged in 2009 with Kobex Minerals Ltd., which reports no properties in the DRC.

Melkior Resources (Ressources Melkior Inc.) held in partnership with Consolidated Trillion Resources Ltd. and Gécamines, from 1999 to 2001, the Kabolela copper-cobalt concession and Kipese gold, palladium and cobalt concession, both in Katanga Province and undertook exploration on them. All its DRC properties were reported to have been sold in 2006. The Congolese government has published a copy of Melkior's agreement with Gécamines.

Adastra Minerals Inc., incorporated in Canada with executive offices in the United Kingdom, and known from 1995 to 2004 as America Mineral Fields Inc., held two joint ventures, the Kolwezi Tailings Project (cobalt and copper) and a zinc-copper mine at Kipushi, both in Katanga Province. It was acquired by First Quantum Minerals in 2006.

Harambee Mining Corp., previously listed on the Vancouver Stock Exchange and Canadian Venture Exchange, acquired in 1998 copper and cobalt concessions in Katanga Province, in a joint venture with Swiss-based Sogemin and Gecamines, however, citing the ongoing instability in the DRC, the company wrote off all its mineral property holdings in 2001.

Vancouver-based International Panorama Resource Corp. held copper/cobalt tailings reserves from 1997, in Kakanda and Kambove, Katanga Province, however as of 2002 it reported being unable to develop its treatment plant. . Simberi Gold Corporation acquired the Kakanda property in 2005, and that company was renamed in 2009 Greenock Resources Inc.

Gold
Banro Corporation has four gold properties in South Kivu and Maniema provinces.

La Quinta Resource Corporation of Vancouver reported in 2008 about securing gold exploration licenses in Maniema South Kivu Gold belt. However, its joint venture with a Congolese company was terminated later the same year.

Moto Goldmines carried out gold exploration in Ituri Province during 2005-2009, but merged with South Africa's Randgold in 2009.

Kilo Goldmines Ltd. (formerly Kilo Goldmines Inc.) has held since 2006 the Masters, Somituri, Sihu, ERW, and Poko gold properties, Orientale Province, that were previously owned by Moto Goldmines Ltd. It reported writing off the acquisition and exploration costs in 2010.

Starpoint Goldfields Inc. (Vancouver) acquired two gold properties in northeastern D.R. Congo, including South Kivu in 1997, but it reported abandoning exploration in 1999 due to the ongoing conflict in the country.

Consolidated Trillion Resources Ltd. (formerly Trillion Resources Ltd.) of Vancouver reported exploration on its gold properties at Kipese and a joint copper/cobalt venture in Katanga, but it abandoned its stakes due to poor exploration results.

Barrick Gold acquired a gold exploration permit in 1996 in the Kilo Moto goldfields of what was the Ituri region of then northeastern Zaire, but exploration work with joint partner AngloGold Ltd. of South Africa was suspended in August 1998 due to civil conflict and the departure of expatriate staff.

Diamonds
Toronto-based BRC DiamondCore reported carrying out diamond exploration in Tshikapa, Kasai-Occidental province, as well as in Équateur and Orientale Provinces. In 2008, Canada's BRC Diamond Corp. merged with Diamond Core Ltd. of South Africa to form the Toronto-based BRC DiamondCore Ltd. The company's name was changed to Delrand Resources in 2011.

Emaxon Financial International Inc., established in Montreal, Canada in 2001, is a subsidiary of the Israeli-based mining group DGI International, and in 2003 providing financing to Société Minière de Bakwanga ("MIBA"), the state-owned diamond company in the D.R. Congo, with the right to purchase 88% of Miba's output at a 5% price discount.

Vancouver-based Rockwell Diamonds held a joint venture in the Kwango River Project since 2006, whose ownership in 2011 was reported to be under litigation.

Gee-ten Ventures Inc. of Laval, Quebec, announced intention in 2007 to acquire the Kamonia diamond project in Tshikapa region. However, no further developments appear to have been reported.

Mano River Resources Inc., which merged with African Aura Mining Inc. in 2009, held diamond exploration assets in partnership with Socerdami/REMEC and BHP Billiton in the north of the D.R. Congo during 2007 and 2008, but terminated the venture in 2009.

Affinor Resources Inc., which was based in Laval, Quebec, held a joint venture in diamond concessions at Ikulu and Semco in Kasai and Oriental provinces in 2007 and 2008, which were written off in 2008.

Canaf Group Inc. (known up to 2006 as CanAfrican Metals and Mining Corp.) held an interest in 2007 and 2008 in New Stone Mining's four diamond concessions in Orientale Province, but reportedly wrote them off in 2008.

SouthernEra Diamonds Inc., incorporated in Canada in 1987 and known as SouthernEra Resources Limited until 2004, undertook diamond exploration in Kasaï Province during 2002 to 2007. The company was taken over by the British-South African firm Mwana Africa Plc in 2007.

Tantalum (coltan), niobium, tin and tungsten
Privately owned Shamika Resources, based in Montreal, has reported exploring for tantalum, niobium, tin and tungsten on its properties in South Kivu, Orientale, Maniema, and Katanga provinces since 2007.

Loncor Resources holds exploration licences in North Kivu, Orientale and Bas-Congo provinces, and reported prospecting in 2010 for gold, platinum and other metals. They report plans to determine pyrochlore (niobium/tantalum) concentrations in their North Kivu properties. In 2011 Banro Corporation and Loncor Resources shared three members of their boards, the CEO, Director, and Executive Vice President.

Petroleum
EnerGulf Resources Inc., based in Vancouver, has held since 2005 an onshore oil exploration license in the Congo Salt Basin in the Lotshi block of the western DRC, and reported preparations for seismic exploration in 2010.

Heritage Oil plc, incorporated in Canada but registered in the Channel Islands, reported holdings of two oil blocks in Ituri Province, including the western half of Lake Albert.

Privately owned Energem Resources Inc., a petroleum company incorporated in British Columbia with head offices in South Africa, reported holding warehousing and related infrastructure in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo, in addition to acquiring in 2003 a share of the shallow water offshore Marine XI block belonging to the Republic of the Congo.

In 1999, Ocelot International Ltd., then based in Calgary, and owned by a former Canadian trade commissioner for Africa, Robert S. Stewart, acquired a 45% interest in three DR Congo oil concessions near the mouth of the Congo River from Shell Petroleum NV. However, early in 2000, the company re-incorporated as PanAfrican Energy Corporation Ltd. in the Channel Islands.

Cumulative Canadian mining assets
Tallies compiled by the Government of Canada's Department of Natural Resources (NRCan) of companies' reported acquisition, construction and fabrication costs, including capitalized exploration and development costs, non-controlling interests, but excluding liquid assets, cumulative depreciation and write-off, show that, uncorrected for inflation, Canadian-raised investment capital directed to natural resource extraction in the D.R. Congo rose thirty-fold between 2002 and 2008 while total Canada-to-Africa mining investment grew six-fold.

The four large-scale Canadian miners, Anvil, First Quantum, Katanga, and Lundin, increased their cumulative assets in the DRC by nearly twelve-hundred-fold over 2001-2009, going from 0.8% of total Canadian-owned assets in that country to 94.4%. In this re-tabulation of the NRCan data, one company, NGEx Resources Inc. together with its wholly owned subsidiary acquired in 2009, Sanu Resources, was withdrawn because their financial documents report activities in the Republic of Congo (Congo‐Brazzaville) and not in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. NRCan's reported total DRC-related assets, however, have been retained, even though for 2008 and 2009, ownership of some $0.9m. and $1.7m. of assets respectively were unspecified.

Canada Pension Plan
Canada's state pension plan, the Canada Pension Plan, is administered by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Investments in Canadian and foreign companies that have been active in Congolese mining have grown from 1.0% (2006) to 2.0% (2011) of total Canadian and foreign equities, as the following table shows.

Quebec Pension Plan
The public pensions of Canadians who are residents of the province of Quebec are administered separately by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. The following table shows that investments in mining companies active in the D.R. Congo, both Canadian and foreign-based, have steadily increased as a percentage of total stocks and bonds from 0.1% (2001) to 0.7% (2011).

Export Development Canada
Export Development Canada (EDC), an agency of the Canadian government, provides finance and insurance to Canadian businesses operating abroad. Kinross Gold Corporation has not reported EDC financing specifically for its Congolese projects, however it has reported EDC loans for mining operations in Russia and in Brazil; as well, in 2009, EDC provided Kinross Gold with a loan in the $25m.-$50m. range, designated for "general corporate purposes", independent of country of operation. First Quantum has reported EDC financing, not in the D.R. Congo, but for its Kansanshi, Zambia project, close to the DRC border. Individual-level transactions data from EDC record financing in the $25m.-$50m. range provided in 2009 to Lundin Mining Corporation that was designated for use in "various countries". However, the $300M multi-lender credit facility stipulated that Lundin would not be permitted to apply the US$45M EDC contribution to its Tenke Fungurume project in the Congo.

Canada Investment Fund for Africa
The Government of Canada contributed US$81m. to the Canada Investment Fund for Africa (CIFA) which operated from 2005 to 2008 and valued at US$212m. including private contributions, and CIFA's funds manager, Cordiant Capital Inc. invested risk capital in 16 Canadian firms, of which one, Banro Corporation, is undertaking gold mining and exploration in the D.R. Congo, receiving $13m. in 2005 from Cordiant.

World Bank
The Canadian federal government is a donor to the World Bank. Among the 45 contracts awarded to Canadian firms by the World Bank from 2004 to mid-2007 for projects in the D.R. Congo, five were classified as falling in the energy and mining sector, totalling US$283,948, including the consultancy project "Restructuration du réseau education de la Gecamines" awarded to the Montreal-based engineering firm Tecsult International, as well as contracts to Martial Lemire and Gemacor International. None of eight World Bank contracts to Canadian firms in 2009 for D.R. Congo-related projects was in the energy and mining sector.

The World Bank's International Finance Corporation provided 7.5% financing to First Quantum Minerals for it to acquire Adastra. The IFC reported commitments of US$3.0m. to First Quantum in 2006 and 2009. IFC also invested $4.0m. in Africo Resources for DRC-related projects in 2008.

In 2005, the World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), provided its first loan and investment to a company operating in the D.R. Congo, totaling $13.6m. to Canada's Anvil Mining, in infrastructure support for its open pit copper and silver Dikulushi Mine, as well as for community development for the local community.

Social and environmental aspects
Two Canadian companies holding or previously holding mining concessions in the D.R. Congo placed among an annual listing by Corporate Knights, a magazine related to corporate social responsibility, of fifty top Canadian corporate citizens in 2010: First Quantum placed 27th, and Kinross Gold Corporation 36th. On only one other occasion since these rankings have been compiled in 2001 has this happened, in 2004, when Kinross Gold ranked 31st.

In 2010, Kinross Gold Corp. also appeared among the first list of Canada's fifty most socially responsible corporations that was co-compiled by Jantzi Sustainanalytics and Maclean's magazine.

In 2009, one Canadian mining company, First Quantum Minerals, was estimated to be the D.R. Congo's largest individual source of tax revenue, US$57m. - roughly equal to the entire Congolese health budget - contributing between one-eighth and one-quarter of all forecast tax receipts from the mining sector. Reported Congolese government fiscal receipts from mining ranged between $11.7m. and $26.7m. during 2003-2006, although the World Bank considers these figures to be "poorly organized, incomplete, and of dubious reliability", and estimates that the D.R. Congo should generate $185m. per year from mining taxes during 2008-2012. First Quantum declared payments totaling US$77m. in income taxes to the DRC government in 2009, representing 38% of all taxes paid by the company that year, while its revenues from the DRC, $441m., were 23% of the company total. First Quantum reported contributing US$298M in 2009 to the DRC economy, or 3.1% of the country's gross national income.

Lundin Mining, together with Tenke Fungurume Mining partner Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc., reported paying US$205m. in taxes to the government of the D.R. Congo during 2006-2009, and contributing US$28m. to social and environmental programming

Emaxon opened in 2006 reportedly the DRC's first diamond cutting and polishing plant, in the city of Kananga.

Both First Quantum Minerals and Lundin Mining Corporation, through its partnership in Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) venture, have constructed ore processing plants in Katanga Province. While First Quantum's Frontier mine had been up to 2008 the largest industrial copper operation, it was expected to be exceeded by TFM as it went into production in 2009 with a process plant and tailings storage facility.

Anvil Mining since 2008, First Quantum since 2007, Lundin Mining since 2008 and Katanga Mining have all reported adherence to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. Of these companies, only Lundin has also reported compliance with the Global Reporting Initiative, while none of the four has stated that their sustainability reports had been audited by third parties.

Shamika Resources employs Patrick Martineau in charge of Environmental and Social Affairs. Martineau completed a master's degree in 2008 at the University of Montreal at Quebec on the chain of coltan production, from artisanal miner to international refiners.

A survey, commissioned by the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada, and covering 171 reported violations of corporate social responsibility by international mining companies operating in developing countries during 1999-2009, identified the D.R. Congo as having the fifth-highest reported incidence, or 7% of the total violations, and while over 75% of global mining and exploration companies were reported to be based in Canada, they contributed to 33% of the reported violations.

In 2010, researchers at the General Reference Hospital, a referral hospital in Panzi, South Kivu, reported that the highest rates of violent rape self-reported by women patients during 1999 to mid-2006 were coincident with locations where two Canadian mining companies are active; 33.2% of reported cases by rape survivors involving any of gang rape, genital mutilation or intentional sexually transmitted disease or HIV transmission, were from Walungu, including the Twangiza-Namoya gold belt worked by Banro Corporation and where the FDLR (Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda) and FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo) are reported to be active, and 31.2% of cases were in Kabare, near one of Shamika Resources' coltan concessions and where the FDLR and other militias are also reported to be active.

The UK-based NGO, RAID (Rights & Accountability in Development), carried out a survey in conjunction with a Congolese NGO, of 140 Chinese and Congolese workers in DRC mines in Katanga Province in 2008 and 2009, which included evaluations of their working conditions. In response to the question "Which companies provide the best working conditions?", only 32 of 140 respondents selected Canadian companies, after the United States (94 "yes") and Europe (70 "yes"), but somewhat ahead of Australian (16), South African (15), Congolese (9) and Chinese firms (7); the researchers concluded that "[c]onditions in South African, Australian and Canadian companies were not rated highly, which should be a cause for concern for the respective governments".

Montreal-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin undertook on behalf of Gécamines during 2002-2003 a World Bank-commissioned environmental audit of the impact of copper and cobalt mining at 32 sites in Katanga Province, which concluded that there was rapid, and in some cases irreversible contamination of ecosystems.

Canadian legislation
In 2010, Canadian Member of Parliament Paul Dewar introduced a private member's bill, Bill C-571, known as the "Trade in Conflict Minerals Act", which sought to ensure that Canadian companies do not purchase minerals from Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania that involved payments to illegal armed groups along the supply chain. Related bills were, in 2009, Private Members' Bill C-300, An Act respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas in Developing Countries, and in 2010, Private Member's Bill C-354, An Act to amend the Federal Courts Act (international promotion and protection of human rights). While none of these bills has come into force, the D.R. Congo was listed among 48 countries participating in the Export and Import of Rough Diamonds Act, passed into legislation in 2002, which governs Canada's adherence to international trade in conflict diamonds under the Kimberley Process.

Ecosociété, Banro and Barrick
Following the publishing in 2008 of the book Noir Canada: pillage, corruption et criminalité en Afrique, Barrick and Banro filed defamation lawsuits involving $11m. against the publisher, Éditions Écosociété and the authors. The book includes a discussion of the activities in the D.R. Congo of America Mineral Fields, Anvil Mining, Banro Resources, First Quantum Minerals, Kinross and Lundin. Barrick and Écosociété settled out of court in October, 2011, the terms involving a financial payment to Barrick by Écosociété and the cessation of the book's publication.

Government of the D.R. Congo's review of mining agreements
DRC's Ministry of Mines undertook a review of fifty-seven mining contracts and six mining conventions during 2007. Anvil Mining's and Katanga Mining's contracts were renegotiated successfully.

First Quantum Minerals' copper and cobalt concessions at Kolwezi, Katanga Province were revoked following a review of agreements by the Congolese government in mid-2009, and the company began arbitration against the Congolese government at the International Court of Arbitration in Paris. Heritage Oil reported that its oil holdings were reassigned to two other companies by Presidential decree in 2010, and the company began legal action challenging the decision.

In reference to First Quantum Minerals, Congolese Information Minister Lambert Mende accused Canada of disrupting World Bank plans for debt relief for his country in November 2009. Although Canada reportedly abstained from the World Bank vote, debt relief was nevertheless awarded to the DRC. In 2009, the World Bank, supported by Canada's Ambassador to the DRC, Sigrid Anna Johnson, and the United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton reportedly exerted pressure, without success, on the Congolese government to reverse its cancelation decision with respect to First Quantum. The Canadian government's Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying records two current and two inactive lobbying actions, all beginning in 2010, on behalf of First Quantum, made to the Department of Finance Canada, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and the Office of the Prime Minister (Canada), concerning Canada's policy on debt forgiveness for the DRC. In 2012, it was announced that First Quantum's legal dispute ended in an out of court settlement.

Lutundula Commission Report
The World Bank-funded Lutundula Commission, a DRC National Assembly group chaired by parliamentarian Christophe Lutundula, investigated mining contracts granted during 1996-2003, and published its findings in 2005. Canadian companies discussed in the report included Anvil Mining (p. 151-156), Banro (p. 190-196), First Quantum (p. 156-162), Lundin (p. 145-150), and Melkior (p. 127-129). Also mentioned were Philip Barrat Kaiser, a Canadian company which held a contract from 1983 to 1986 with the Zairois government (p. 130), and Vin Mart Canada of Richmond Hill, Ontario (p. 121), which was reported to hold a 10% share in La Société Minière du Katanga Sprl (SOMIKA). The Commission recommended the renegotiation of the period of Anvil Mining's agreement (p. 156) and described as "reprehensible" five actions made by SOMINKI-SAKIMA-SOMICO-BANRO (75% of whose shares were owned by Banro) during 1996 and 1997 (p. 192).

Anvil Mining and Kilwa incident
In 2004, to quell a rebel uprising in the town of Kilwa, nearby Anvil Mining's Dikulushi minesite, the Congolese military requisitioned trucks and a plane from Anvil Mining, and Anvil provided additional logistical support; more than seventy persons were killed in this incident, according to a UN observer mission. Anvil employees including one Canadian were acquitted of responsibility in 2007 by a Congolese military trial, and no appeal trial was held, despite hopes expressed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. An inquiry by the Australian Federal Police begun in 2005 at the request of the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs was terminated in 2007, reportedly due to insufficient evidence under the Australian Criminal Code. An audit released in 2006 by the World Bank's Office of the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman identified several deficiencies in MIGA's awarding in 2005 of financing to Anvil. Also in 2006, Anvil signed a protocol with the Province of Katanga government placing restrictions on the employment of Anvil assets by the government, and documenting any usage thereof. In 2010, a group of Congolese-Canadians filed a class action in a Quebec court against Anvil concerning the Kilwa incident. In April 2011, the Quebec Superior Court denied a request by Anvil Mining for the civil class action application to be transferred to either Australia or the Congo. In January 2012, this decision was overturned by the Quebec Court of Appeal, and the Canadian Association Against Impunity (L’Association canadienne contre l'impunité, ACCI), a six-member coalition of NGOs (ACIDH, ASADHO, Centre canadien pour la Justice internationale, L'Entraide missionnaire, Global Witness, and RAID) representing relatives of the Kilwa victims, announced their intention to pursue the case at the Supreme Court of Canada.

A 2010 report released by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) determined that the "judicial decisions made during the Kilwa case are an illustration of the lack of impartiality and independence within the military justice system [...] No reference was made in the judgement to international law as it pertains to war crimes. Throughout this case, political interference, a lack of co-operation on the part of the military authorities and many irregularities were observed". In reference to the allegations of political interference, the OHCHR report cited a 2007 MONUC document which noted that during the 2006 trial before the Military Court in Lumbumbashi, the "Military Prosecutor has been pressured to drop the charges brought against the Anvil Mining staff".

United Nations Security Council Panel of Experts
In 2002, a report on resource exploitation in the DRC by a United Nations Security Council panel of experts explicitly identified five Canadian companies to be "in violation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises"; they were: First Quantum Minerals, Harambee Mining Corp., International Panorama Resources Corp., Melkior Resources, and Tenke Mining Corp. The annex also included four other Canadian companies to which other countries of origin were attributed: American [sic] Mineral Fields and Kinross Gold Corporation (both USA), Banro Corporation (South Africa), and Lundin Group (Bermuda). The five-member UN panel included one Canadian, Jim Freedman, an anthropologist and conflict resolution consultant. Speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council following this report's release, Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations, Paul Heinbecker, welcomed the panel's overall conclusions, but noted that the alleged violations by individually-named companies were mainly unsubstantiated, and that, in Canada, these allegations diverted attention from the principal findings and recommendations. Journalist Madeleine Drohan reported that some of the affected companies had contacted the office of Canada's minister of foreign affairs, Bill Graham, requesting their names to be removed. First Quantum was reported as saying that the bribery allegation made in Panel's report was due to a "misunderstanding" with hired consultants, who were dismissed in 1998.

In 2003, a follow-up United Nations Security Council panel, without any Canadian members, revised the lists according to the degree of resolution achieved by each of the firms and individuals. In Annex I, seven Canadian companies were categorised as "Resolved - No further action required": American [sic] Mineral Fields AMFI, Banro Corporation, First Quantum Minerals, Harambee Mining Corporation, Kinross Gold Corporation, Melkior Resources, and Tenke Mining Corporation; International Panama [sic] Resources Corp appeared in "Category IV - Pending Cases With Governments For Individuals And Companies", to which was added the remark, "No complaint. Enquiry by GoC" [Government of Canada]. While the Panel stated that the resolutions did not invalidate their earlier findings, they did consider those issues to have been worked out to the satisfaction of the Panel and the companies involved (Paragraph 23). Of the 123 companies from 35 countries cited in the 2003 UN report, eight (6.5%) were identified as being from Canada. Pursuant to the 2003 UN report, International Panorama Resources Corp., which was subsequently renamed Kakanda Development Corp., became in 2004-2005 the subject of a Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's National Contact Point (NCP) investigation in response to a request from civil society groups. This was the NCP's sole D.R. Congo case among four "specific instance procedures" undertaken between 2000 and 2010 of Canadian corporate conduct overseas, and the NCP reported that Kakanda had been inactive in the DRC since 1997, officially ceasing all operations there in 2004; the National Contact Point accordingly closed its inquiry under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and accepted all other conclusions of the 2003 UN Security Council panel. The Kakanda property has remained in Canadian hands, acquired by Simberi Gold Corporation in 2005, renamed Greenock Resources in 2009. During 2005-2007, Canada's National Contact Point also reported collaboration with the Canadian Government Working Group on the Democratic Republic of Congo in their development of a mining sector corporate social responsibility strategy.

Quotations

 * Delphine Abadie, Université de Montréal, June 2011: "[M]ining operators – and Canadian projects in Congo in particular – are often managed from tax havens and other offshore jurisdictions. This means that their activities are not contributing substantially to the budget of any state. According to the Lutundula Commission, this would have been the case for most of the Canadian corporations active in the Congo."
 * Nicholas Garrett, Freie Universität Berlin & Marie Lintzer, Resource Consulting Services Ltd, UK , on Lundin Mining Corporation's Tenke Fungurume Mining partnership, November 2010: "By the end of 2009, TFM had invested USD 1.7 billion into the mine, process plant, tailing storage facility and other ancillary structures, and the mine went into commercial production in September 2009. While the process is still at an early stage of data gathering and analysis, it appears likely that a range of potential positive impacts on the provincial and national economy can be generated due to TFM investment, construction and operations."
 * Fidel Bafilemba, Enough Project, October 2010: "In recent years the establishment of an industrial gold mining operation by the Canadian Banro Corporation in Twangiza, Walungu territory in South Kivu marks the return of industrial mining to the region. Banro was exempted from the [temporary export] mining ban [in North Kivu, South Kivu, and Maniema provinces], and it recently began construction of its plant at the Twangiza site, approximately 50 miles from Bukavu. The track record of industrial mining in Congo leaves much to be desired, with serious questions regarding the equity of mining contracts and the behavior of international mining companies. But in the Kivus there is hope that industrial mining could provide an alternative to armed groups. Mwamikazi Esperance Baharanyi, traditional queen of the Walungu territory, a territory roughly the size of Rwanda, told Enough that Banro 'represents a positive alternative to artisanal mining in eastern Congo.' However, it is too soon to tell whether such efforts will effectively help local communities benefit from their natural resources."
 * Ulric Shelwa, for Shamika Resources, September 2010: "World opinion, for the most part, does not presently endorse Shamika’s belief in the potential for positive change in the DRC, but nor did it endorse such a positive outlook at the end of the last decade for some countries in post-communist Europe and in south-east Asia. History, and positive social, political and corporate agents of change, proved it wrong. To that end, Shamika believes the same is possible in the DRC. It has been a leader for the DRC, among the juniors, in mining and social activities."
 * Chisholm Pothier, Director of Communications, Department of Finance, Government of Canada, June 2010: "We have repeatedly expressed Canada's serious concerns about the impact of the DRC’s government mismanagement of the country's all-important resource sector during discussions on the DRC in various international forums."
 * Peter Whelan, Export Development Canada, Government of Canada, April 2010: "Foreign investment in mining and other sectors of the [D.R. Congo's] economy will continue to be constrained by the unpredictable political and regulatory environment as evinced by the review of mining contracts of recent years."
 * Peter Rosenblum, Columbia Law School, and Carter Center consultant to the DRC mining contract revisitation process, October, 2009: "You just need to know the war in the Congo and what was happening at that time to imagine what kinds of deals the government or people in government, rebel leaders, might have taken. So there was an opportunity with the new government that was elected to put things right, I suppose. Unfortunately, it never had a strong backing from the international community, a lot of hesitation from the big mining powers, the United States, Canada, United Kingdom. And at the end of the day, the government itself, without perhaps that push, shyed away from taking the high road, and tried to make back room deals to renegotiate what they could."
 * Louise Arbour, then United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, July 4, 2007, in response to the acquittal of defendents by a Congolese military court over the deaths of 100 citizens in Kilwa, Katanga Province, which was linked to Anvil Mining: "I am concerned at the court's conclusions that the events in Kilwa were the accidental results of fighting, despite the presence at the trial of substantial eye-witness testimony and material evidence pointing to the commission of serious and deliberate human rights violations [...] I am pleased that an appellate instance will have the opportunity to revisit these findings. I urge the appeal court to fully and fairly weigh all the evidence before it reaches the appropriate conclusions that justice and the rights of the victims demand."
 * Stratos Inc., for Export Development Canada, June 2007: "One Canadian mining company described the approach it had taken to develop its property. It started consulting neighbouring communities two and a half years before the new mine began to work the concession.  A year later, it started to develop community profiles and needs assessments (there are 42 villages on its concession).  It also enrolled the support of local leaders to discourage artisanal mining on its property and followed up by offering replacement jobs to artisanal miners in its own operations, in tree-cutting and in agricultural programs.  These projects were identified by NGOs and were substantial enough that they absorbed many of the displaced artisanal miners.  The company refurbished two primary schools, built a third one and committed to paying teachers for three years.  It helped establish 20 micro-enterprises (e.g., in brick-making and fence-building) and encouraged local manufacturing by buying local products.  It funded skills-training and drilled water wells.  Not confident about how the government would spend royalties once these started flowing, the company has committed to investing 0.3 per cent of revenues to go into a Community Trust Fund which will be jointly administered by the company and the local community [...] Companies face a dilemma because while they do not wish to take on the role of government - and workshop participants agreed that it would be inappropriate for them to do so - they need to participate actively in fighting corruption, improving overall governance and promoting greater equity if they want to ensure political stability and protect their investments.  Ultimately, they need to be able to transfer the social responsibilities they assume to a willing and capable government if the country's development is to be sustainable."
 * Mark Smith, RBC Securities Capital Markets, December 8, 2006: "The Kibara belt on the African rift valley holds over 80% of the world’s columbo-tantalite reserves."
 * Madeleine Drohan, Canadian journalist, 2003, on UN Security Council Resolution S/2002/1146: "The president of Kinross Gold, another Canadian firm, assured me that all his company's dealings in the Congo were by any standards appropriate and defensible. He later called the mention of his company on the list 'irresponsible commentary' that would hit its share price.  [...] All but thirty-eight names of companies and individuals were dropped from the list of cases requiring urgent international attention.  Companies pointed to this outcome as proof of their innocence, but a careful reading of the reasons of the panel indicated this was not necessarily so [...] The report was a blow for groups such as Entraide Missionare which had been hoping for a more robust follow-up."
 * Sam Kiley, The Times (London), April 22, 1997: "Mining multinationals have signed billion-dollar deals for mineral rights with Laurent Kabila, Zaire's rebel leader, to get ahead in what is being billed as 'the second scramble for Africa'. [...] This week American [sic] Mineral Fields signed three contracts worth $885 million which would give the mining house access to the vast metal reserves of Shaba province. [...] Unlike the days when President Mobutu farmed Zaire's economy as a personal cash cow, the businessmen said that there was no smell of corruption in meetings with the rebel financial chiefs. Michael McMurrough, chief executive and chairman of American Mineral Fields, said: 'AMF has not paid anyone anything.' Kenneth MacLeod, president of International Panorama Resource Corporation of Vancouver, said: 'We are going to capitalise on the current strife by increasing our presence and our land holdings in the country'."

Books

 * Deneault, Alain; Abadie, Delphine; Sacher, William. 2008. Noir Canada: pillage, corruption et criminalité en Afrique, Montréal: |Éditions Écosociété.
 * McCullum, Hugh. 2006. Africa's broken heart: Congo, the land the world forgot Geneva: WCC Publications.
 * Drohan, Madeleine. 2003. Making a killing: how and why corporations use armed force to do business, Toronto: Random House Canada.

Video

 * Michel, Thierry. 2009. Katanga Business, documentary film on DVD, 120 min., Liège, Belgium: Les Films de la Passerelle. Versions in English, French, Dutch. Surveys the industrial and artisanal mining industry in Katanga Province, including interviews with Canadian lawyer Paul Fortin and First Quantum Minerals President, Clive Newall.  Published under the same title as a book with photographs by Thierry Michel and text by Colette Braeckman et al., Bruxelles: Tournesol conseils, 2009.