Title: Stadium Coltan: artisanal mining, reforms and social change in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Description: This study investigated initiatives intended to ‘formalise’ artisanal mining in DRC—in other words, they aimed to bring mining under state control. The study especially focuses on the effects of one among these initiatives—the ITRI Tin Supply Chain Initiative (iTSCi)—on two groups of actors: miners (creuseurs) and middlemen (négociants). This thesis thus presents a fine-grained case study of the iTSCi. Designed by the International Tin Research Institute in 2009, iTSCi provides a means of determining the origin of 3T and documenting the trading chain for these minerals by ‘tagging and bagging’ the loads of 3T near miners’ shafts (at postes d’achat/selling points or buying stations), at counting offices (comptoirs) and in mineral depots, before the minerals are exported through the international market.

Supervisors: Hilhorst, Prof. dr. D.J.M. ; Vlassenroot, Dr. K. ; Cuvelier, Dr. J.G.R.

Key Publications:

• Stadium Coltan : artisanal mining, reforms and social change in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. (2017) Claude Iguma Wakenge. PhD Theses. Wageningen University
• Stade Coltan. Extraction Minière Artisanale, Réformes Et Changement Social, à l’est de la République démocratique du Congo (2019). Claude Iguma Wakenge

More information: https://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/wda/2214221

Current information: http://www.isdrbukavu.ac.cd/