Musonoi Mine
Encyclopedia
The Musonoi mine is a set of open-cut pits near Kolwezi
from which copper
and other metals have been extracted since the 1940s. The mining complex is located in the Katanga Province
of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
.
Kolwezi is about 320 kilometres (198.8 mi) northwest from Lubumbashi
, the provincial capital.
in the copperbelt. The Musonoi mine is located in a dolomitic
inferior formation of the Roan system, Katanga group, from the Precambrian
IV age. It is deeply affected by folds
and thrust
nappe
s.
Two ore bodies about 10 metres (32.8 ft) thick are known, containing copper, cobalt, manganese
and uranium
. The mine has a rare assemblage of uranyl
selenite
minerals, and has palladium
minerals.
near Musonoi has been exploited since prehistoric times. Monseigneur de Hemptinne watched Yeke people working this mine as late as 1924. They would work in the dry season, stopping when the first rains arrived. The mining camp was near a stream where millet could be planted. Women and children collected malachite from the surface, while men used iron picks to excavate pits and shafts, using fire to crack the rocks when needed. The mines were between 10 metres (32.8 ft) and 15 metres (49.2 ft) deep with galleries up to 20 metres (65.6 ft) long. The ore would be sorted and then taken to a nearby stream for concentration before being smelted.
By the 1930s, the operation at Musonoi was highly mechanized, while world demand for copper was dropping. Workers used sabotage and arson as well as flight as bargaining tools for better conditions.
Musonoi Principal, the oldest open cut, was opened in the 1940s. By 1953 the open pit mine was the largest copper and cobalt producer in the country.
Another cut was begun in the 1950s and a third in the 1970s. The three were eventually combined and connected with the Kamoto mines.
was initiated in 2004 to recover tailings from two deposits, the Kingamyambo tailings dam and the Musunoi river tailings. Due to poor recovery rates when the mines were operational, these tailings hold valuable quantites of copper.
In September 2010 the Kolwezi tailings project was the subject of a complaint to the UK regulator by Canadian company First Quantum Minerals
. First Quantum's project had been seized by the DRC government. The company alleged that ENRC, which had acquired a large share in the project, had misled investors over the acquisition.
Kolwezi
Kolwezi is a city in Katanga Province in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, west of Likasi. It is home to an airport and a railway to Lubumbashi. The population is approximately 418,000....
from which copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
and other metals have been extracted since the 1940s. The mining complex is located in the Katanga Province
Katanga Province
Katanga Province is one of the provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was Shaba Province. Under the new constitution, the province was to be replaced by four smaller provinces by February 2009; this did not actually take place.Katanga's regional...
of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
.
Kolwezi is about 320 kilometres (198.8 mi) northwest from Lubumbashi
Lubumbashi
Lubumbashi is the second largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, second only to the nation's capital Kinshasa, and the hub of the southeastern part of the country. The copper-mining city serves as the capital of the relatively prosperous Katanga Province, lying near the Zambian border...
, the provincial capital.
Ore body
The Kolwezi ore district lies near the northwest limit of the Katanga Copperbelt. It holds over half of the copper and cobaltCobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....
in the copperbelt. The Musonoi mine is located in a dolomitic
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
inferior formation of the Roan system, Katanga group, from the Precambrian
Precambrian
The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...
IV age. It is deeply affected by folds
Fold (geology)
The term fold is used in geology when one or a stack of originally flat and planar surfaces, such as sedimentary strata, are bent or curved as a result of permanent deformation. Synsedimentary folds are those due to slumping of sedimentary material before it is lithified. Folds in rocks vary in...
and thrust
Thrust fault
A thrust fault is a type of fault, or break in the Earth's crust across which there has been relative movement, in which rocks of lower stratigraphic position are pushed up and over higher strata. They are often recognized because they place older rocks above younger...
nappe
Nappe
In geology, a nappe is a large sheetlike body of rock that has been moved more than or 5 km from its original position. Nappes form during continental plate collisions, when folds are sheared so much that they fold back over on themselves and break apart. The resulting structure is a...
s.
Two ore bodies about 10 metres (32.8 ft) thick are known, containing copper, cobalt, manganese
Manganese
Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
and uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
. The mine has a rare assemblage of uranyl
Uranyl
The uranyl ion is an oxycation of uranium in the oxidation state +6, with the chemical formula [UO2]2+. It has a linear structure with short U-O bonds, indicative of the presence of multiple bonds between uranium and oxygen. Four or more ligands are bound to the uranyl ion in an equatorial plane...
selenite
Selenite
Selenite, satin spar, desert rose, and gypsum flower are four varieties of the mineral gypsum; all four varieties show obvious crystalline structure...
minerals, and has palladium
Palladium
Palladium is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pd and an atomic number of 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired...
minerals.
Pre-history
The Dikuluwe mineDikuluwe Mine
The Dikuluwe Mine is a copper and cobalt mine in Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Dikuluwe is the westernmost of the Diwa Pit group, with Mashamba West and Mashamba East....
near Musonoi has been exploited since prehistoric times. Monseigneur de Hemptinne watched Yeke people working this mine as late as 1924. They would work in the dry season, stopping when the first rains arrived. The mining camp was near a stream where millet could be planted. Women and children collected malachite from the surface, while men used iron picks to excavate pits and shafts, using fire to crack the rocks when needed. The mines were between 10 metres (32.8 ft) and 15 metres (49.2 ft) deep with galleries up to 20 metres (65.6 ft) long. The ore would be sorted and then taken to a nearby stream for concentration before being smelted.
Commercial operations
Commercial mining at Musonoi began in the 1920s, with laborers being forcibly recruited. The Union Miniere constantly struggled to prevent recruits fleeing from the site, sometimes taking refuge in Angola. Workers were mistreated and suffered badly from disease brought on by the working conditions. The lowest death rate at the Panda, Lubumbashi, Kisanga and Musonoi work sites in 1928 was four men per month.By the 1930s, the operation at Musonoi was highly mechanized, while world demand for copper was dropping. Workers used sabotage and arson as well as flight as bargaining tools for better conditions.
Musonoi Principal, the oldest open cut, was opened in the 1940s. By 1953 the open pit mine was the largest copper and cobalt producer in the country.
Another cut was begun in the 1950s and a third in the 1970s. The three were eventually combined and connected with the Kamoto mines.
Tailings
The Kolwezi tailings projectKolwezi tailings project
The Kolwezi tailings project is a major project in the Kolwezi mining area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to recover copper from the tailings, or processed ore, from mining in the region since the 1950s....
was initiated in 2004 to recover tailings from two deposits, the Kingamyambo tailings dam and the Musunoi river tailings. Due to poor recovery rates when the mines were operational, these tailings hold valuable quantites of copper.
In September 2010 the Kolwezi tailings project was the subject of a complaint to the UK regulator by Canadian company First Quantum Minerals
First Quantum Minerals
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. is a Vancouver, British Columbia based mining and metals company whose principal activities include mineral exploration, development and mining....
. First Quantum's project had been seized by the DRC government. The company alleged that ENRC, which had acquired a large share in the project, had misled investors over the acquisition.