"In a Vital River Basin, Chinese Mine Dredges With Impunity" 13 October 2022

BASOKO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO — Not a day goes by without the motorized sound of dredgers blasting through Charles Baima’s village in Basoko, around 195 kilometers (121 miles) along the Congo River from the northern inland port of Kisangani, at the confluence with the Aruwimi River. As the dredgers sweep down the Aruwimi, the noise scares away the catch of the day, Baima says, and now he fears for his livelihood.

The dredgers belong to the Chinese company Xiang Jiang Mining, which in 2019 obtained permits from the country’s Ministry of Mines to research three areas along the Aruwimi River for gold, diamonds and other minerals.

For months, Basoko residents have complained about water pollution, the disappearance of fish and the proliferation of sandbanks along the river — so much so that, in January, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment Ève Bazaiba visited the area and told Xiang Jiang Mining to shut down all operations and relocate the dredgers to Kisangani.

And in May, an investigation by Mongabay, a United States-based news outlet focused on environmental issues, found that Xiang Jiang Mining had violated the scope of its permits by using mercury, bought in Kisangani and later dumped into the river, to extract gold. All samples collected during the research stage belong to the state, according to DRC’s Mining Code.

Nine months after the minister’s visit and the publication of Mongabay’s investigation, nothing has changed in Basoko: Xiang Jiang Mining continues to operate as usual. [...]

The provincial authorities interviewed for this article denied any responsibility for the water pollution, military presence and alleged illegal extraction. “The mining sector is managed by the national ministry. Everything goes through the national level; all I do is execute,” says Tshopo’s Minister of Mining Mesemo Wa Mesemo Thomas.

Tshopo’s Minister of Environment, Lokula Lolisambo Norbert, says he only heard about the situation with Xiang Jiang Mining “through hearsay.” “I don’t have any documents. I haven’t received any Chinese subject in my office to talk about this exploitation,” he says. “This subject is beyond my level.”

Xiang Jiang Mining, whose research permits expire in 2024, didn’t reply to multiple requests for comment. Neither DRC’s Ministry of the Environment nor the Ministry of Mines responded to multiple requests for comment. [...]