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The New Gold Rush: Post-conflict Mining and Trading in the Kilo Belt (DRC)

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Natural Resources and Local Livelihoods in the Great Lakes Region of Africa

Abstract

This chapter examines gold mining in the Kilo belt of the Ituri district in north-east Democratic Republic of the Congo.1 Since its start just over a century ago, gold mining in the Kilo belt has transformed from artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM)2 to industrial production, and then back to ASM.3 Now, as Ituri emerges from a bloody conflict, gold mining is poised to become a mix of industrial and ASM production. The trade of gold has also evolved from being completely state controlled, to a loosely regulated system in the informal economy, to a structure of elite networks with ties to armed groups and foreign governments. With the return of industrial mining, the state will control the trade in industrially produced gold but elite networks are likely to continue to dominate the trade in gold produced by ASM.

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Authors
  1. Dan Fahey
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Development Studies, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium

    An Ansoms (Lecturer in Development Studies) (Lecturer in Development Studies)

  2. Institute of Development Policy and Management (IDPM), University of Antwerp, Belgium

    Stefaan Marysse (Professor Emeritus of Political Economy) (Professor Emeritus of Political Economy)

Copyright information

© 2011 Dan Fahey

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Fahey, D. (2011). The New Gold Rush: Post-conflict Mining and Trading in the Kilo Belt (DRC). In: Ansoms, A., Marysse, S. (eds) Natural Resources and Local Livelihoods in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230304994_9

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