Mutanda Mine
Lualaba Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Mutanda Mine (Mine de Mutanda) is an open-pit copper and cobalt mine in the Lualaba Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is the largest cobalt mine in the world. Accidents and spills at the mine have killed workers and polluted nearby rivers and fields. An NGO that has documented impacts of the mine concluded that spills have threatened community members' right to food. The complex contains two mines, the main Mutanda mine and the Shabara mine, where artisanal mining (digging by hand) takes place. The mine is owned by Glencore. Acquisition and operation of the mine has been fraught with corruption, secrecy, and improper business dealings. Mutanda has been closed since November 2019, although artisinal mining has continued at Shabara. Glencore announced plans to resume production in 2022. In April 2022, president Félix Tshisekedi's administration announced plans to renegotiate rights and royalties to the mine as it was poised to reopen.
Mine data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).