Zaire MINING
Figure 10. Mineral Resources, 1993
Mining has been the cornerstone of Zaire's wealth since
colonial times. In the late 1980s, Zaire was the world's
largest
producer of cobalt, second or third largest producer of
industrial
diamonds, and fifth largest producer of copper. Mining,
mineral
processing, and petroleum extraction accounted for 17
percent of
the GDP in 1990 (down from 24 percent in 1987) and mineral
exports,
principally copper, cobalt, diamonds, and gold, provided
nearly 75
percent of all export earnings. The mining industry,
primarily the
giant Gécamines, also provided a significant percentage of
ordinary
government revenues, although the company failed to
reinvest
profits, resulting in worn-out equipment. In addition, to
enrich
itself the presidency repeatedly diverted the firm's
funds.
Throughout the early 1990s, the deterioration of Gécamines
was both
a symbol and a result of the country's economic chaos.
Most skilled
expatriates working for the company fled following
military looting
in 1991 and further unrest in 1992. Since then Gécamines's
facilities have been systematically gutted, and the
company is now
bankrupt.
Mining is centered in the southeastern and eastern
parts of the
country with the exception of petroleum, which is found in
the far
west in Bas-Zaïre Region, and diamonds, mined in
Kasai-Oriental and
Kasai-Occidental regions
(see
fig. 10). Shaba Region has
the
greatest concentration of minerals, with copper, cobalt,
and zinc
mined in a narrow crescent known as the copper-cobalt
zone,
stretching roughly from Kolwezi to Lubumbashi. Shaba
Region also
contains most of Zaire's known deposits of coal and
manganese. A
broad belt in eastern Zaire from northern Shaba to eastern
HautZaïre Region contains deposits of tin and gold with lesser
amounts
of tungsten-bearing wolframite, niobium, and tantalum.
Data as of December 1993
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