Veteran Mining Expert: "Katanga Is a Disaster Area"

Barry Sergeant at Mineweb fleshes out the story of Katanga's mining woes. Some 200,000 jobs in artisanal mining in Katanga have already evaporated. Anvil has suspended operations at its Dikulushi mine. Katanga Mining has suspended operations at its Tilwezembe open pit and ore processing at the Kolwezi Concentrator. Camec has "temporarily halted copper and cobalt mining operations" at its Luita plant and mines, including Mukondo. Metorex appears to be plodding on through the morass, while Freeport-McMoRan at Tenke Fungurume, and First Quantum at its Kolwezi tailings site, are still on schedule to be producing in less than six months. Overall, stocks of copper and cobalt mining companies operating in the DRC are off an average of 90 percent from their highs.