The Bakwanga mining company (MIBA), a Congolese state holding company, produced only 16,664.12 carats of diamonds in the first three months of 2023.
According to figures from the Ministry of Mines, the mining industry in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reached an estimated production volume of 2,035,090.71 carats of diamonds in the first quarter of 2023.
The report indicates that 1,554,858.73 carats come from artisanal mining, i.e. 76.40% of total production;
479,605.11 carats from industrial mining, i.e. 23.57%; and
626.87 carats from the semi-industrial mining circuit, i.e. 0.03%.
The document specifies that industrial production is ensured by the Anhui Congo Mining Investment Company (SACIM) with 462,940.99 carats, i.e. 96.53% and the Minière de Bakwanga (MIBA) with 16,664.12 carats, i.e. 3 .47% of industrial production.
Artisanal production comes from the following provinces:
– Kasaï-Oriental: 1,494,769.87 carats, or 96.14%;
– Kasaï-Central: 23,465.29 carats, or 1.51%;
– Sankuru: 28.80 carats, or 0.002%;
– Kasai: 27,784.49 carats, or 1.79%;
– Kwango: 7,003.38 carats, or 0.45%;
– Tshopo: 666.15 carats, or 0.043%;
– Kwilu: 1,140.75 carats, or 0.07%.
In the first quarter of 2023, the DRC exported 2,165,816.30 carats for an estimated value of 20.8 million US dollars distributed as follows:
– Artisanal mining: 1,871,357.49 carats for a value of 16.7 million USD;
– Industrial exploitation: 294,458.81 carats for a value of more than four (4) million US dollars.
