The Democratic Republic of Congo’s environment minister recently suspended the operations of a Chinese company for polluting a major tributary of the Congo River in Tshopo province. Xiang Jiang Mining is accused of polluting the Aruwimi River, mining for gold without first conducting an environmental impact assessment, and failing to secure work permits for its foreign employees. In nearby South Kivu province, six other mining companies were suspended for similar offenses last year, pointing to a worrying pattern of companies ignoring mining and environmental regulations.

In August 2021, local communities accused a Chinese gold-mining company of polluting a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s northeastern province of Tshopo. Residents living near the town of Basoko shared images of the Aruwimi River discolored by waste disposal from Xiang Jiang Mining’s operations. The DRC environment minister, Ève Bazaiba, visited the area in January and ordered the company to suspend its operations...

According to Bazaiba, Xiang Jiang Mining was operating at least seven robotic dredges without permission, polluting the water and causing problems with navigation of this important waterway by dumping sand in the river...Bazaiba...condemned Xiang Jiang Mining’s failure to secure an operating permit as required by law, as well as the absence of residence or work permits for its foreign employees. The minister also said Xiang Jiang had failed to carry out environmental impact studies before starting to mine. She ordered the company’s dredges be removed immediately to Lubumbashi, the DRC’s main mining hub in the country’s south...

According to Congolese activist Jean-François Mombia, local residents are suffering from the impacts of mining on the river. He told Mongabay that there has been an increase in cases of diarrhea in the region. “Dead fish are floating in the river and, unfortunately, people are eating them.” Mombia and others in civil society have also criticized Xiang Jiang Mining’s plans to relocate at least 10,000 people living in the vicinity of the river. He said that communities living along the Aruwimi earn their livelihood from fishing and should not be forced to move...