This research project studies the mining sector in Eastern DR Congo. It focuses on interactions between artisanal and industrial mining, as well as differences across these production modes in terms of linkages with local livelihoods and violence.
Research questions
- How does artisanal / industrial mining support local livelihoods?
- How does artisanal / industrial mining relate to violence?
- How do artisanal and industrial mining interact, and how do these interactions affect livelihoods and violence?
Research design
We rely on several data sources, that we analyse using both quantitative and qualitative methods:
- Geo-referenced information on the location of artisanal and industrial mining sites from International Peace Information Service (IPIS) and the Congolese Mining Cadastre (CAMI).
- Geo-referenced information on conflict events from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) and from Kivu Security Tracker.
- Semi-structured interviews with stakeholders & focus group discussions with artisanal miners
- Structured interviews with 469 artisanal miners who were ‘illegally’ working in the Kamituga mining site, where Banro – a Canada-based multinational was the legal concession holder.
Fieldwork
We conducted four rounds of fieldwork in the gold mining town of Kamituga (read about Kamituga’s history here).
- June 2013
Census of artisanal gold mining pits and actors - May – June 2014
Semi-structured interviews with stakeholders & focus group discussion with artisanal miners - December 2014
Pilot of our survey instruments and interviews with stakeholders - March – May 2015
Structured survey among a representative sample of 469 artisanal miners
Some snapshots of our data
Academic output
Stoop N. and Verpoorten M. (2021). Would you fight? We asked aggrieved artisanal miners in Eastern Congo Journal of Conflict Resolution.
PDF replication
Geenen S., Stoop N. and Verpoorten M. (2021). How much do artisanal miners earn? An inquiry among Congolese gold miners Resources Policy.
PDF survey survey instruments
Stoop, N. and Verpoorten, M. (2020), Risk, Envy and Magic in the Artisanal Mining Sector of South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo. Development and Change.
PDF
Stoop N., Verpoorten M. and van der Windt P. (2019). Artisanal or Industrial Conflict Minerals? Evidence from Eastern Congo. World Development 122: 660-674.
PDF replication
Stoop N, Verpoorten M, van der Windt P (2018) More legislation, more violence? The impact of Dodd-Frank in the DRC. PLoS ONE 13(8): e0201783.
replication
Kilosho B. J., Stoop N. and Verpoorten M. (2017). Defusing the social minefield of gold sites in Kamituga, South Kivu: from legal pluralism to the re-making of institutions? Resources policy53: 356-368.
PDF
Stoop Nik, Kilosho Buraye Janvier, Verpoorten Marijke (2016) Relocation, reorientation, or confrontation? Insights from a representative survey among artisanal miners in Kamituga, South Kivu. Antwerpen, IOB, Institute of Development Policy and Management, University of Antwerp, 55 p
Science communication
We summarised our research findings for a broader audience through various policy briefs, blog posts and a video:
- Van mijnen in Oost-Congo naar technologie in je smartphone – video for the University of Antwerp’s Kinderuniversiteit, science communication to children aged 8-12.
- Conflict Minerals Legislation: Shooting at the Wrong Target … Again – Political Violence at a Glance
- Artisanal gold mining pays – IOB blog
- The super-natural is super-rational – IOB blog
- The way that minerals are mined affects conflict in eastern Congo – The Conversation
- Artisanal or industrial conflict minerals? – IOB Policy Brief
- More legislation, more violence? The impact of Dodd-Frank in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – CATO Institute
- Trump threatened to suspend the ‘conflict minerals’ provision of Dodd-Frank : that might actually be good for Congo – Washington Post, Monkey Cage
- The social minefield of gold digging in South-Kivu, DRC: the case of Kamituga – IOB Policy Brief
- The social minefield of gold digging in Kamituga, South-Kivu – Amani Itakuya II Essay Series