The Dikulushi mine is a copper and

silver mine Silver mining is the extraction of silver from minerals, starting with mining. Because silver is often found in intimate combination with other metals, its extraction requires elaborate technologies. In 2008, ca.25,900 metric tons were consumed ...

in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located some west of Lake Mweru and north of

Kilwa Kilwa Kisiwani (English: ''Kilwa Island'') is an island, national historic site, and hamlet community located in the township of Kilwa Masoko, the district seat of Kilwa District in the Tanzanian region of Lindi Region in southern Tanzania. K ...

in the

Moero Sector Moero Sector is an administrative division of Pweto Territory in Haut-Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The headquarters are in the town of Kilwa. Moero Sector lies to the west of Lake Mweru. The territory is agricult ...

of Pweto Territory,

Katanga Province Katanga was one of the four large provinces created in the Belgian Congo in 1914. It was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into the Tanganyika Province, Tanganyika, Hau ...

. The leading DRC copper company

Anvil Mining Anvil Mining was a copper producer that has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from 2002 to 2012. The company headquarters were in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Anvil was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Australian ...

brought the site into production in October 2002 with some 10% Community Trust involvement. The mine has a total of 481,000 tonnes of proven mineral reserves and over 650,000 estimated. While the mine was operational, heavy trucks carrying concentrate crossed Lake Mweru on a large motorised pontoon ferry from Kilwa to

Nchelenge Nchelenge is a town in the Luapula Province of northern Zambia, lying on the south eastern shore of Lake Mweru. It is contiguous with Kashikishi, and they are sometimes referred to as Nchelenge-Kashikishi. Nchelenge is the administrative centre ...

, a distance of , from where they drove to a copper

smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including Silver mining#Ore processing, silver, iron-making, iron, copper extracti ...

in Tsumeb, Namibia. In October 2004 there was a small-scale uprising in Kilwa which was brutally suppressed by FARDC soldiers of the 62nd Brigade. Anvil Mining Congo was accused of providing logistical support to the troops. The company published a statement by the Traditional Chiefs of Moero Sector that firmly denied any involvement by Anvil in the massacre and that praised the company for the benefits it had brought to the region. As of December 4, 2008, Anvil had placed Dikulushi Mine on "Care and Maintenance" due to the low prices of copper. In March 2010, Anvil sold the mine to Mawson West Limited. The transfer would let Anvil focus on its larger copper projects, including the

Kinsevere Kinsevere is an open pit mine and Heavy Media Separation plant with an electric arc furnace formerly operated by Anvil Mining, and now operated by Minerals and Metals Group. It is located north of Lubumbashi, Katanga Province, Democratic Republic ...

Stage II project expected to start commissioning early in 2011 and to produce 60,000 tonnes annually. Mawson West reopened the Dikulushi mine in July 2010. The mine was mothballed in 2015 by Mawson West after the mine produced lower than expected yields of copper Facing financial difficulties, Mawson West was acquired by ''Galena Private Equity Resources'' (a subsidiary of Trafigura) and delisted from the Toronto stock exchange. The Dikulushi mine was subsequently acquired by the China-based ''JCHX group'' () in 2019.

References

{{reflist , refs= Anvil sells its 90% stake in Dikulushi mine in DRC for 28% of MWE in scrip
''Business Spectator'', published: 1 March 2010, accessed: 29 December 2010

External links

Anvil Mining website

Copper mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Silver mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Surface mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Underground mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2002 establishments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mining in Haut-Katanga Province

See also

References

External links