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{{Infobox mine
| name = Bisie mine
| image =
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| pushpin_map = Democratic Republic of the Congo
| pushpin_label_position = top
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| coordinates = {{Coord|1|2|S|27|44|E|region:CG_type:city(10000)|display=title,inline}}
| place =
| subdivision_type = [[Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|Province]]
| state/province = [[North Kivu]]
| country = [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]
| owner = ''Alphamin Bisie Mining SA'' (ABM)
* Alpahmin Resources (84.14%)
* Industrial Development Corporation (10.86%)
* [[Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|DRC government]] (5%)
| official website = {{URL|https://alphaminresources.com/mpama-north/}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
'''Bisie''', divided into '''Mpama North''' and '''Mpama South''' deposits,<ref>{{cite web | title=Major Mines & Projects | website=Bisie (Mpama North) Mine | date=2017-07-10 | url=https://miningdataonline.com/property/3449/Bisie-(Mpama-North)-Mine.aspx | access-date=2022-10-16}}</ref> is a [[tin]] deposit in the [[Walikale territory]] of the province of [[North Kivu]] in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] (DRC). The mine was formerly an illegal source of an estimated 15,000 tons of tin, or 4% of global production.<ref name=T>{{cite news|series=The Spoils |title=Congo's Riches, Looted by Renegade Troops|work=New York Times|date=15 November 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/world/africa/16congo.html?ref=africa}}</ref> In early 2018 [[artisanal mining]] activity has stopped, and Alphamin Resources Corp., an exploration company, based in Mauritius, is leading an exploration of the site.

==History==
===Artisanal mining (2003–2011) ===
Bisie mine was established after a hunter discovered [[cassiterite]] there,{{When|date=November 2022}} which led to a frenzy. Artisinal mining at Bisie began in 2003.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Huggins | first=Chris | title=Is collaboration possible between the small-scale and large-scale mining sectors? Evidence from ‘Conflict-Free Mining’ in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) | journal=The Extractive Industries and Society | publisher=Elsevier BV | year=2022 | issn=2214-790X | doi=10.1016/j.exis.2022.101163 | page=101163|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Following the [[Second Congo War]], [[Mai Mai]]-allied militia in were to form the 85th brigade of the [[FARDC|national army]], receive training and then fragment when they deployed throughout the country. The militia refused to cooperate, however, and since then they controls the production and transport of tin, and the economics of Bisie, and nearby Manoire village, under the supervision of Colonel Samy Matumo. The mine's estimated tin production has been as high $100 million a year. The militia extorted "taxes" on everything from entry to the mine, to mud hut for shelter $50 a month. They also collect sales taxes, $20 a week, from small peddlers

Tin was mined by hand through [[open-pit mining]], and bags of tin that weighed 110 pounds or more were then dropped off at a central location, from which porters carried them on foot by individuals for over 30 miles, which typically took two days. When it arrived it was driven to the village of Kilambo, where it was loaded into Soviet-style cargo planes, flown to [[Goma]], and sold to international dealers, such as [[Malaysia Smelting Corporation]].

The militia controlled the entire vicinity of Bisie and allowed only those who paid the taxes. Mining and Processing Congo (MPC), a consortium of British and South African investors, bought mining rights for Bisie in 2006, but the militia thwarted their attempts to reach the area. They in the past have shot and injured people associated with the consortium. After they were forced to evacuate, MPC applied for [[Force Majeure]], which was granted on 26 March 2009.

By July 2008, the mine was retaken by the DRC's military, but conditions under the [[Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|FARDC]] were poor, with child labor and outbreaks of disease in the area.<ref>{{cite web | title=Congo's tin slaves | website=the Guardian | date=2008-07-15 | url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/15/congo-mining | access-date=2022-11-02}}</ref>

The mine was intimately linked to world markets. In October 2008 the prices of tin increased 37% with news of fighting in the region.<ref>ANALYSIS-Tin price spike shows Congo's growing origin role. Reuters. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LU661455.htm</ref> According to some observers, the failure to inaugurate legal forms of production indicated corruption at the regional and federal levels of the DRC.

In March 2009, the 85th [[Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|FARDC]] Brigade was replaced by the 1st Brigade of ex-[[National Congress for the Defence of the People|CNDP]] (Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple) members; this was then renamed the 212th Brigade in September 2009.<ref name="Wimmer">Wimmer S. Z. & Hilgert P. (2011), IPIS (International Peace Information Services) Bisie. A one-year snapshot of the DRC's principal cassiterite mine, http://ipisresearch.be/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/20111128__Bisie_FHilgert_SZingg.pdf</ref> On 9 September 2010, President Kabila banned on all artisanal mining in Walikale territory. Two days later, he suspended all mining and mineral exports from North Kivu, South Kivu and Maniema Provinces.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2010-09-10 |title=DR Congo bans mining in eastern provinces |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-11269360 |access-date=2023-08-11}}</ref>

This mining and export ban, together with the [[Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act]] and pressure from the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD), caused buyers to buy less at lower prices. The Dodd-Frank legislation requires US-listed companies who obtain minerals from the DRC and adjoining countries, to implement due diligence measures. This legislation served as a catalyst for other international and regional initiatives to increase the accountability of corporations who source minerals from the eastern DRC and the wider region.<ref name="Wimmer" /> The main buyers of cassiterite in the area, i.e. the Malaysian Smelting Corporation, various Chinese companies and [[Eurotrade International]], boycotted Bisie ore, easy to identify due to its pink-red colour.<ref name="43-101">MSA Group (2014), Bisie Tin Project NI-43-101 Technical Report, {{cite web|url=http://alphaminresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Alphamin-Bisie-Tin-Project-NI-43-101-Report-Jan-2014.pdf?4737e9 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=13 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091330/http://alphaminresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Alphamin-Bisie-Tin-Project-NI-43-101-Report-Jan-2014.pdf?4737e9 |archivedate=4 March 2016 }}</ref>

The mine was profiled in the 2010 documentary [[Blood in the Mobile]].

Mineral production and trade slowed during Kabila's ban, but did not completely stop. Wimmer and Hilgert (2011)<ref name="Wimmer" /> presented satellite images which show continued artisanal mining at Bisie. They estimated that the actual mining area expanded by 0.74 ha during the ban, which was lifted 10 March 2011.<ref name="43-101"/>

By late May 2011, the DRC army completed its withdrawal from the Bisie tin mine.

===Industrial mine (2011–present)===
In August 2011, Alphamin Resources, a Canadian company, acquired a 70% interest in the Bisie Tin Project,<ref>Alphamin Resources (2012), {{cite web|url=http://alphaminresources.com/alphamin-closes-acquisition-of-a-70-interest-in-the-bisie-tin-project-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-and-concurement-5-million-convertible-note-financing/ |title=Alphamin Closes Acquisition of a 70% interest in the Bisie Tin Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Concurement $5 Million convertible note Financing - Alphamin |accessdate=13 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030714/http://alphaminresources.com/alphamin-closes-acquisition-of-a-70-interest-in-the-bisie-tin-project-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-and-concurement-5-million-convertible-note-financing/ |archivedate=4 March 2016 }}</ref> and acquired the remaining 30% of the project in July 2012.<ref>{{cite web | title=Alphamin Announces Acquisition of Final 30% of the Bisie Tin Project, Democratic Republic of the Congo | website=Marketwire | date=2012-07-24 | url=http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/alphamin-announces-acquisition-final-30-bisie-tin-project-democratic-republic-congo-tsx-venture-afm-1683136.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618075804/http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/alphamin-announces-acquisition-final-30-bisie-tin-project-democratic-republic-congo-tsx-venture-afm-1683136.htm | archive-date=2018-06-18 | url-status=dead | access-date=2022-11-02}}</ref>

In 2012, the number of artisanal miners at the site had declined sharply, due in great part to the deep tunnels now needed to reach the ore. The Force Majeure was lifted at the Bisie Project in February 2012, and Alphamin Resources established a camp on the Bisie ridge and began exploratory drilling in July 2012.<ref>Alphamin Resources (2012), {{cite web|url=http://alphaminresources.com/drilling-commences-on-the-bisie-tin-project-north-kivu-province-drc/ |title=Drilling Commences on the Bisie TIn Project, North Kivu Province, DRC - Alphamin |accessdate=13 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035927/http://alphaminresources.com/drilling-commences-on-the-bisie-tin-project-north-kivu-province-drc/ |archivedate=4 March 2016 }}</ref>

Artisanal mining continuing on a smaller scale alongside Alphamin's exploration. However, after members of an artisanal cooperative destroyed Alphamin's camp on 16 July 2014, the cooperative's activities on the site were suspended.<ref>Pole Institute (2014), http://www.pole-institute.org/news/suspension-des-activit%C3%A9s-des-coop%C3%A9ratives-mini%C3%A8res-%C3%A0-bisie-au-nord-kivu {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301164837/http://www.pole-institute.org/news/suspension-des-activit%C3%A9s-des-coop%C3%A9ratives-mini%C3%A8res-%C3%A0-bisie-au-nord-kivu |date=1 March 2018 }}</ref> Alphamin rebuilt the camp and recommenced exploration campaign in September 2014.<ref>Alphamin Resources (2014), {{cite web|url=http://alphaminresources.com/alphamin-recommences-drilling-100-owned-bisie-tin-project-drc/ |title=Alphamin Recommences Drilling ... - Alphamin |accessdate=13 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208074037/http://alphaminresources.com/alphamin-recommences-drilling-100-owned-bisie-tin-project-drc/ |archivedate=8 February 2015 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Rubaya mines]]
* [[Numbi (town)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*{{cite web
| title = A rush for tin, a catastrophe for the Congo
| url = http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/16/africa/congo.php
| first = Lydia
| last = Polgreen
| date =16 November 2008
| publisher = International Herald Tribune
| accessdate = 23 November 2008}}

==External links==
*The Incredible Story of Conflict Mineral Mining in Images; Treehugger.com [https://web.archive.org/web/20090924075848/http://www.treehugger.com/galleries/2009/06/the-incredible-story-of-conflict-mineral-mining-in-images.php?dcitc=TH_sbl_slide]
*Conflict mineral exploitation at Bisie, D.R. Congo, photography by Mark Craemer, 2008 [http://www.markcraemer.com/conflict-minerals]
*The Congo's tin soldiers, Wells J. (2011); Thestar.com [https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2011/06/29/the_congos_tin_soldiers.html]

==Further reading==
*Nicholas Garrett; Sylvia Sergiou; Koen Vlassenroot, 'Negotiated Peace for Extortion: the case of Walikale territory in Eastern DR Congo,' Journal of Eastern African Studies, vol. 3, issue 1, 2009

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bisie, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo}}
[[Category:Mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo]]

Bisie - Revision history

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