Mining and Neighboring Communities: The Helter-Skelter Relations between the Twangiza Highland Open-Pit Mining and Local Communities, within a Context of Co-Existence with Small-Scale Mining and Progressive Ecological Rehabilitation

This paper focuses on the cooperation between Twangiza Mining, an industrial highland long-term open-pit gold mine, in the eastern part of the DR Congo, and neighboring communities. Various projects have been implemented, including: water supply, education, health care, infrastructure, ecological rehabilitation, humanitarian assistance, and sustainable income generation through income generating activities. Results show that most people in the local community used to live in aggravated poverty, a landlocked environment and general scarcity of infrastructures of all kinds, before the onset of the mining industry. It implies that the mining industry could not change everything all of a sudden and that most projects would have a quick impact, and not be viewed as superficial or manipulative, as the need was real. Most conflicts occurred within administrative Divisions neighboring the Twangiza mine, with better economies from small scale mining, and more subject to resettlement, unlike communities within Divisions with limited economic opportunities which were more inclined to accept mining projects, as they perceived the potential economic benefits as outweighing the drawbacks. The Cinjira resettlement provided lessons about successes and failures and resilience strategies. The most preferred projects of mining companies for local communities are those that provide direct benefits to the community such as infrastructure development and ecological rehabilitation. The role played by NGOs and Activist Groups is positive in that they advocate for community rights and environmental protection, though their involvement also contributes to conflicts. The co-existence of industrial mining with small-scale mining is also problematical. Unexpectedly, the detailed literature on achievements of multinational mining companies in neighboring communities and the related grievances is scarce in Africa; except for Nigeria and Ghana, and likely South Africa. This paper intends to provide some enlightenment on the topic.