NEWS ON CONGO 013: Aggressors want Congo's gold [Posted: 21.09.98] INTRO NOTE: An AFP telegram published - as it seems, only - by ATMA, Bel-- gium, at on 18.09.1998, contains important in- formation on one reason behind the ongoing aggression against the DR Congo by Uganda and Rwanda, instigated and abetted by US imperialism and also propagandistically supported by all the mass media in a number of countries: There are big deposits of gold, of exceptionally high concentra- tions too and very easily extracted, and of other rare metals in the eastern provinces of the DR Congo, those which still are being held by the aggressors. The telegram, an article by Barthélémy Bosongo, Kinshasa, fol- lows in full below. There are reasons to note some other things in this context: Firstly, there clearly is going on a diplomatic offensive by the US to help the aggressors against the now impending coun- ter-attack also in the eastern part of the DR Congo, after they have been soundly defeated in the west and the whole in- ternational plot more and more is failing, being opposed by almost all states in Africa. In a hypocritical statement to a Congressional committee on 15.09, a representative of the US State Department tried to portray the US government as completely innocent in the matter, but between the lines of that statement, the complicity of that government showed up very clearly. The facts of the aggression also were clearly exposed by the permanent representative of the DR Congo to the UN in a speech on 10.09 - see "NEWS 012". Secondly, concerning the question of vital raw materials from the Congo, some general observations may be made: As far back as during WW II, the US got, via Belgium, uranium for the Manhattan atom bomb project precisely from eastern Congo. Some of the ore of that time was extremely rich in that metal, certain lumps even containing such extraordinarily high uranium concentrations as 75%. These were exceptions; today, certain uranium ores in Canada are said to contain as much as 25%, but more normal are such concentrations as 0.2 percent - e.g. in Russian mines from which Sweden receives part of its uranium - and in Namibia, the metal is profitably extracted from a daylight mine whose ore contains just 0.03% of it. Now today, that particular metal, so extremely useful for energy production purposes, is actually being extracted at a *smaller* rate than some ten years ago. This has to do with the interna- tional tendency of the whole international economic system to- day of turning into "green", industry-strangling, imperialism, a "development", or rather, a degeneration and putrefaction which is extremely bad for all peoples in the world. In the article reproduced below, there's no mention of uranium deposits either. But gold, for instance, in particular very cheaply extractable such, of course remains of great interest to international imperialism, which still is also retaining its character of a robber-exploiting system. And one of the resons behind the ongoing aggression against the DR Congo very clearly is an attempt to "safeguard" the continuing robbing of that country of its gold. - RM End of Intro Note Here follows the article reproduced from ATMA, Belgium: *Kivu's Gold, Hidden Stake in the Conflict in the DR Congo* By Barthélémy Bosongo KINSHASA, 18 Sept (AFP) In addition to regional rivalries and questions of security, in the conflict in the DRC, there are secretly at stake the enor- mous mineral riches of Kivu and the Eastern Province. This part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, ex-Zaire), at present under the control of the [so-called - RM] rebellion, stretches almost 1,500 km from the north to the south, along the borders to Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. According to geo- logical studies made in the DRC in the last years, its ground contains plentiful deposits of copper, silver, cadmium and other rare metals, but above all gold deposits of exceptionally rich concentrations. Specialists estimate that when the rich copper and cobalt mines of Katanga (in the south-east) are later depleted after a cer- tain while, those three provinces (Northern Kivu, Southern Kivu and the Eastern Province) tomorrow will be the motor of the economy and constitute that which is already being designated "the useful Congo". [A term which of course proceeds from the imperialist "idea" that such third-world countries as the Congo are "never" to be industrialized. Nobody would dream of calling only the mining districts of, say, Sweden or the USA the "useful parts" of these countries, but that's how certain people think about, for in- stance, the DR Congo. Anyway, one actually quite important po- tential motor of that country's economy for the near future those riches naturally do constitute. - RM] During the rebellion of 1996 which carried Laurent-Désiré Kabila to power, the rulers of the disintergrating regime of Marshal Mobutu accused the forces of Mr Kabila and their Ugandan and Rwandan supporters of trying to lay their hands on these riches. The Kabila regime on its part has resumed such accusations, now directed against its former Ugandan and Rwandan allies, which are being accused by Kinshasa of an aggression under the cover of a purported rebellion. The subterranean riches of the east have so far never been eva- luated properly, because of that disorganization which prevailed under Mobutu's regime in conjunction with the recurrence of ethinc conflicts in the region. Only the gold has been subjected to exploitation, and to large-scale trading. This exploitation is exclusively of handicraft type, after the Office of the gold mines of Kilo-Moto (OKIMO) ceased activities in 1993 because of the obsolescence of its production facili- ties. These mines are situated less than 100 km from the Ugandan border. The gold deposits with the highest concentrations are in the Eastern Province, in the region of Ituri, close to the bor- ders to Uganda and Sudan. A legend which still lives on in Congo's east places the gold mines of King Solomon in this zone. According to a study carried out in 1994 by the national centre of geological and mine re- search (CRGM), the soil at Ituri is so rich in gold that, with modern extraction methods, it is possible to get pure gold at a medium ratio of 6 to 7 kilogrammes per ton, just by extracting from the excavated rock masses around the former mines of the OKIMO. Thousands of gold-washers are working on their own behalf in the region, which extends over 83,000 square km. In certain places the concentrations reach the astronomical figure of 18 kg of pure gold per ton, as compared to an overall global mean of 11 grammes of gold per ton, according to CRGM documents. This gold is being subjected to intensive trading. The gold- washers and other dealers prefer disposing of their gold in the neighbouring countries where the prices are judged to be more rewarding. Last February, the Congolese government called on certain neighbouring countries, without naming them, to "put a stop to the plundering of Congo's riches". According to observers, this measure was the reason for a first friction between Kabila's regime and its Ugandan and Rwandan al- lies. According to the statistics of the Congo's Central Bank, the DRC annually exports 300 kg of gold. However, still accor- ding to the same statistics, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda are ex- porting 3 tons, 4 tons respectively 10 tons of gold per year. All this gold, the Central Bank claims, originates from the DRC and leaves the country clandestinely. Those three countries have established on their respective territories buying offices working on a franchise principle and offering prices sometimes as high as twice those practised in the DRC. So far, only secondary deposits (river deposits) have been sub- jected to exploitation by the OKIMO. Primary deposits (hard sub- terranean rock) have been left intact and are thought to be richer in content. According to specialists in the field, in the "carré 200", in the OKIMO's concession No. 40, situated around the city of Mongbalu, on the border with Uganda, the single mine Senzéré by itself contains estimated reserves of between 2,000 and 3,000 tons of gold, worth between 20 and 30 billion US dollars. In South Kivu, "rare earths", the exploitation of which has not begun, could produce precious metals such as europium and tho- nium, which are used in the aircraft and space industries. ________________________________________________________________ "NEWS ON CONGO" postings bring statements by the Congo National Association in Sweden and the DR Congo Committee in Sweden and also reproduce information and analysis from other sources. For French-readers we recommend the sites Agence Congolaise de Presse, ACP: (temporarily closed from 16.08.98 on - but now, 12.09 etc, open again), Congonline (Belgium-based, brings info from various sources): , and also the sites and . Contact addresses: Congo National Association Box 5343 SE - 102 45 Stockholm Sweden Tel: +46 - 8 - 471 96 26 (chairman) +46 - 8 - 84 57 18 (facility) Fax: +46 - 8 - 751 26 06 DR Congo Committee (Chairman: Bony Ndjov-a-Shamalo) Box 17513 SE - 200 10 Malmoe Sweden Tel: +46 - 40 - 12 48 32 E-mail: congocomse@hotmail.com