Ten illegal gold mining sites have reportedly been identified inside the concessions of Kibali Gold Mines, a subsidiary of Canada’s Barrick Gold, in Haut-Uélé province.

The finding was announced on October 5, 2025, after an inspection led by Mines Minister Louis Watum Kabamba, joined by the provincial governor and security officials.

The Kibali concessions, covering about 1,836 square kilometers in the Moto goldfields of Watsa territory, are among ten permits held by the company. Officials say these areas are regularly invaded by illegal artisanal and semi-industrial miners.

At Barrick Gold’s 50th annual conference in 2023, CEO Mark Bristow had already warned about the rise of illegal mining in parts of Haut-Uélé, citing the involvement of foreign operators, mainly of Asian origin.

During the minister’s visit, several Chinese nationals were caught mining inside one of the concessions. They were carrying out open-pit artisanal and semi-industrial operations using heavy machinery and employing Congolese workers in unsafe conditions, in violation of the Mining Code.

Provincial authorities and security forces dismantled the network. The minister ordered the arrest of those involved, the seizure of equipment, and the closure of the site. He denounced the illegal exploitation of national resources by foreign operators.

The scale of Kibali Gold’s losses is still unclear. However, during a meeting with the Mines Minister on September 18, 2025, industry representatives called encroachment on mining concessions the “most critical problem.” The Federation of Enterprises of Congo (FEC) estimates that the phenomenon has already cost at least one mining company more than $3 billion through illegal extraction.

Ronsard Luabeya