Tensions High in DRC, the Global Cobalt Capital, Between Artisanal Miners and Industrial Mining Companies

This story written by Simplice Bambe and translated by Laura originally appeared on Global Voices on January 29, 2026.

Kolwezi, a mining city in the Lualaba Province of the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), holds 70 percent of the world’s cobalt reserves. Known as the “Global Cobalt Capital,” tensions are high in this city due to the conflict between artisanal miners, also called “creuseurs” (diggers), and industrial mining companies.

Today, this mining resource is of considerable importance owing to its multiple uses and distinctive features, including energy performance, heat resistance, sustainability, and magnetic properties. Cobalt is in high demand in the electric car manufacturing, aeronautics, and medical industries. In DRC, the sector is key as it currently employs more than three million people and accounts for over 90 percent of the country’s economy.

On December 19, 2025, Louis Watum, Minister of Mines, signed a decree to safeguard mining companies and regulate the artisanal cobalt and copper mining industry in Kolwezi. This decision to suspend artisanal miners has sparked widespread discontent, resulting in looting, vandalism, and casualties.

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Paragraphs one and two of Article 109 of the DR Congolese mining code recognize artisanal miners as an integral part of the entities involved in mining activities. However, according to figures that Louis Watum presented at the Makutano Forum in Kinshasa on November 25, 2025, there are 3 million artisanal miners, but a shortage of officially designated Artisanal Mining Zones. The mining industry is poorly organized, partly because the DR Congo’s authorities have sold almost all of the Grand Katanga’s (South-East of the country) mining quarries to foreign investors.

Artisanal miners are often forcibly removed to benefit industrial mining companies. Some mines ultimately operate amid volatile relations.

The artisanal miners’ fight for survival

The lack of official Artisanal Mining Zones (Zone d’Exploitation Artisanale or ZEA) forces artisanal miners from the Lualaba Province to trespass on mining sites to support their families. This trespassing causes extensive damage, often resulting in fatal conflicts. Official industrial mining company workers frequently report the killing and serious injury of mining operators and those transporting mining products to the factories. Machine operator Junior Biane explained the situation, telling Global Voices:

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The mining companies accuse the DR Congo government of failing to take responsibility for protecting their investments from illegal mining activities.

Industrial companies demand government protection

Kamoto Copper Company (KCC), owned by Anglo-Swiss multinational Glencore, reports instances of artisanal miners trespassing due to a lack of ZEA. Currently, the T17, KOV, and Mashamba mines in the Lualaba Province, where this giant extracts copper, often experience truck robberies and attacks on their workers. The Chinese company COMMUS has experienced a similar situation.

On December 3, 2025, KCC workers marched to the Provincial Government of Lualaba to denounce this trespassing and acts of violence.

Although the mining industry is the pillar of the DR Congo’s economy, the authorities have not implemented a definitive solution. It is the GDP driver and is the primary source of public revenue, accounting for over 30 percent of the national budget. The government must, therefore, address the mining companies’ concerns.

Despite its wealth in mineral resources, poverty affects more than half of the DRC population. According to a World Bank report published in October 2025, 85.3 percent of the DRC population lives in extreme poverty. The unemployment rate is estimated at 84 percent, while the average annual per capita income is USD 1,600, or USD 134 per month.

The government’s current policy offers no sustainable solutions, neither for artisanal miners nor for industrial mining companies.

[VP]

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