Kinsevere is an open pit mine and Heavy Media Separation plant with an electric arc furnace formerly operated by

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 ...

, and now operated by

Minerals and Metals Group MMG Limited is a mid-tier global resources company that mines, explores and develops base metal projects around the world. MMG's largest shareholder is China Minmetals with 68%.Lubumbashi Lubumbashi (former names: ( French), (Dutch)) is the second-largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the country's southeasternmost part, along the border with Zambia. The capital and principal city of the Haut-Katanga ...

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 ...

, Democratic Republic of Congo. Kinsevere is in the

Kipushi Territory Kipushi is a territory in the Haut-Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The main river is the long Kafubu River, which flows through the territory from east to west to join the Lualaba River The Lualaba River flows entirely ...

in Katanga province. There are three deposits: Central Pit, Mashi and Kinsevere Hill. These are mostly stratiform deposits in alternating dolomitic and terrigenous formations. The dolomitic rocks that underlay the formations are excellent aquifers.

History

Anvil Mining

The deposit was originally owned fully by

Gécamines La Générale des Carrières et des Mines (Gécamines) is a Congolese commodity trading and mining company headquartered in Lubumbashi, in the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is a state-controlled corporation founded in ...

, the mine was leased out on a 25-year term to

Moïse Katumbi Moïse Katumbi Chapwe (; born 28 December 1964) is a Congolese businessman and politician. He was Governor of Katanga Province, located in the southern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from 2007 to September 2015. He was a member of t ...

's ''Mining Company Katanga'' (MCK). By June 2006, stage I development of the mine was being carried out by ''AMCK'', a joint venture owned 70% by the Australia-based

, and 30% by ''Mining Company Katanga''. Anvil then increased its interest in the venture to 95%. The proceeds from the sale, along with nearby deposits, netted Katumbi $61.3 million, which he used to finance his successful American-style election campaign to the governorship of

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 ...

in 2007. For the year of 2011, Anvil expected to produce between 36,000 and 38,000 tonnes of copper as copper cathodes and copper in concentrates. Anvil was completing construction of a $400 million SX-EW plant to extract the copper, and the Heavy Media Separation plant was scheduled to shut down at the end of June 2011. After the upgrades, the mine is expected to produce about 60,000 tons of copper annually. Anvil is studying the potential for further increasing the rate of production.

Minmetal Resources

In September 2011, the Hong Kong-listed ''Minmetals Resources Ltd'' announced a $1.3 billion offer to by Anvil Mining, which was unanimously accepted by Anvil's board.

claimed the acquisition triggered a review of the projects' lease, and threatening to block the deal. Minmetals extended the timeframe of its offer several times to allow time for the dispute to be resolved. In February 2012, Gecamines dropped its opposition to the deal.

Minerals and Metals Group MMG Limited is a mid-tier global resources company that mines, explores and develops base metal projects around the world. MMG's largest shareholder is China Minmetals with 68%.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 ...

. A joint report released by the Congolese

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s ''Humanisme et Droits Humains'', ''JUSTICIA Asbl'', and ''Ligue Congolaise de luttecontre la Corruption'' claimed that MMG was exerting pressure on the magistrates in order to sway the outcome of the court case in MMG's favor. An article from the outlet ''Africa Intelligence'' claimed the non-governmental organizations responsible for the report were motivated by political support for Katumbi, an allegation that the organizations strongly deny. In late 2020, MMG announced the mine would be transitioning from sulfide ore to oxide ore, halting mining October 1. While no mining took place at Kinsevere in 2021, as of March 2022, MMG has announced a $600 million expansion of the mine aimed at producing 80,000 tons of copper cathode and 5,000 tons of cobalt hydroxide.

References

{{reflist Copper mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mining in Haut-Katanga Province