UN Team: Keep Congolese Uranium Mine Closed

Published by MAC on 2004-11-10

A mine which should never have been opened remains closed following a UN inspection. But this disturbing story is not as simple as it may seem...

UN Team: Keep Congolese Uranium Mine Closed

Environmental News Service (ENS)

November 10, 2004

Nairobi, Kenya - United Nations investigators have found that a uranium mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that collapsed in July, killing nine people, is at high risk of caving in again and must remain closed.

The interagency team, led by the UN Environment Programme and the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), visited the Shinkolobwe uranium mine in the southwestern province of Katanga between October 25 and November 4, and is preparing technical recommendations.

The environmental assessment team found high risks of mine collapse and potential chronic exposure to ionizing radiation, OCHA said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The situation in Shinkolobwe could be described as anarchistic - there is no respect for mining safety regulations," said Bernard Lamouille, an expert in artisanal mining who participated in the United Nations assessment. The team also included people from the World Health Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The mine had been excavated for uranium but closed before the country gained independence in the 1960s. The main shafts were covered with concrete. In the late 1990s, artisanal mining for cobalt was allowed, leading to uncontrolled and dangerous mining activities.

Around 15,000 people were dependent on the mining activities and living in the nearby village of Shinkolobwe. However, during the UN team's visit, no artisanal miners were active onsite. Following the evacuation of the mining site in early August, the adjacent village had been destroyed. Artisanal miners and their dependants had reportedly dispersed to other artisanal mining sites and some returned to neighboring towns.

"No immediate risks to the environment were observed," said Alain Pasche of the UN assessment team, "though we have taken samples of water, soil and sediments, which will be further analyzed in Switzerland for heavy metal concentration."

From 1997 until August 2004, some 6,000 miners were entering the former Shinkolobwe mine site each day without authorization to extract cobalt. They had excavated a huge open pit next to the former uranium mine, which was flooded after it was mined out.

In light of the possibility that uranium might be extracted and sold on the black market, the United States demanded that the DR Congo government regain control over the mine site.

In January 2004, President Joseph Kabila banned access to the site, but miners were still working at the site until part of it collapsed in July.

All the miners who worked the site are at risk of developing cancer and other health problems because of high radiation levels at the site, concluded the UN investigators.