Death in the Congo

Death in the Congo

The Northen Miner

27th April 2006

http://www.northernminer.com/article.asp?id=55335&issue=04272006&ref=rss

Tragedy struck at Anvil Mining's (AVM-T, AVM-A) Kulu mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Apr. 24. The company has confirmed two deaths, while African news agencies say another two are dead with the possibility of a fifth.

On Apr. 25th Anvil issued a release stating that two of its employees were killed when a group of protesting artisanal miners burned down an Anvil guesthouse just outside of Kolwezi, in the southeastern province of Katanga.

A cook, employed by Anvil, and a contracted security guard, are the victims.

Sources in the DRC say protestors became incensed when an artisanal miner was killed while being cleared off Anvil's property. The dead is said to be 30-year-old Kayembe Mukoj.

While Anvil would not comment on Mukoj's death, it says it has been trying to remove illegal artisanal miners from its land for months. Anvil says its has no problem with legal artisanal miners -- those that pay a government fee for a permit.

The exact cause of Mukoj's death is still a subject of debate. An non-governmental organization (NGO) in the Congo, the League against Corruption and Fraud (LICOF), reports the man drowned in a river while fleeing. But the news agency Agence France-Press reports that an eyewitness claims to have seen an Anvil security guard throw the man down a well. The South African-based security company contracted by Anvil denies the charge.

Patricia Feeney, head of Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID) -- an NGO active in the region -- says news of the dead artisanal miner raised the ire of many of Kolwezi residents. Their anger was further fanned when the group was denied a meeting with the mayor to hear their complaint.

Anvil says the protesters numbered over 500, and disputed reports that the number could have been as high as 1,000.

"It started with a very few people," says Anvil spokesman Robert LaVallière of the protest. "But they added people as they walked through the town."

From the mayor's office, the growing crowd wound its way out to the company's guesthouse.

Sources say after setting fire to the building, protesters were dispersed when local Congolese police fired live ammunition into the crowd killing as many as two people. Thus far, government officials have confirmed the death of just one.

Since Anvil's association with the Kilwa incident — where some 100 villagers were killed by the Congolese Military, who used Anvil trucks and aircraft — Anvil has committed itself to stricter transparency procedures when incidents arise.

In compliance with its own policy the company quickly notified the U.N. mission in the Congo -- MONUC -- as well as the DRC government.

Staff members of the governor of Katanga's office flew into Kolwezi the day after the incident to study the situation. The company is now awaiting the outcome of their investigation.

Anvil describes the situation in the area as calm, but Feeney insists that tensions persist. She says high unemployment and poor environmental conditions are fuelling a tense atmosphere that she describes as a "powder keg".

Anvil has shut down operations as a precautionary measure, and has moved two of its employees 250 km away from the site. The company says operations will be ramped back up to full capacity by Sunday, Apr. 30.

In its release Anvil says it is "extremely upset that these deaths have occurred and is making every effort to assist the affected families and to protect its staff."

In Toronto, Anvil's shares fell just 3% after the news broke. They closed on Apr. 25 at $8.40 on roughly 86,000 shares.