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Zaire Tin and Related Minerals
Deposits of cassiterite, the chief source of tin, are
found in
a broad zone extending from northern Shaba Region through
Sud-Kivu
and Nord-Kivu to Haut-Zaïre Region. Associated with the
cassiterite
are commercially exploitable amounts of ores of tungsten,
niobium,
and tantalum. The Kivu Mining and Industrial Company
(Société
Minière et Industrielle du Kivu--Sominki) has
responsibility for
tin mining in Nord-Kivu and Sud-Kivu regions, and the
Zaire Tin
Company (Compagnie Zaïrétain--Zaïrétain) carries out
open-pit
operations in Shaba Region. In 1993 there were reports
that Sominki
had ceased production of tin ore.
Known deposits are large. In the mid-1940s, Zaire was
the
world's second largest producer after Bolivia, but
thereafter
production decreased steadily. Mining of cassiterite (and
associated ores) continued to slacken through the early
1990s
because of weak prices and expensive and time-consuming
transport
from the remote locations where it is mined. Production
was
estimated at 1,943 tons in 1988, dropping to 1,642 tons in
1989,
and 1,600 tons in 1990.
Data as of December 1993
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