Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –
A gold mountain recently discovered in South Kivu province, Congo and lure thousands of people to flock to that location to mine gold.
South Kivu Mining Minister Venant Burume said the discovery of ore containing gold was discovered at the end of February. Not long after the discovery, many people including the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) came to the scene.
The location of the mountain containing gold is in the village of Luhihi, which is 50 kilometers from the provincial capital Bukavu Unilad.
The local government has temporarily suspended mining activities in the area. In a warrant ordering traders, miners and members of the Congolese armed forces to leave the mine site.
This termination is intended to identify the miners and ensure they are properly registered with the mining administration.
Until now all mining activity was postponed until further notice, it was quoted as saying Timesnownews.
Gold is one of the resources known as ‘conflict material’ in the country. According to one study, armed groups were involved in mining and forced others to mine, as well as collecting taxes from the miners.
Armed groups also smuggle and trade the illegally mined gold. One of the proceeds from selling the gold was used to buy weapons or pay the warriors’ salaries.
Earlier a video that went viral on social media saw many Congolese digging the ground with shovels and collecting the soil into a container. The footage shows that they gained a lot of gold when they separated the land from the water.
Some people were even seen using their bare hands to pick up the land that contained gold in that location.
A newspaper reported that the soil on the mountain was estimated to be ’60 to 90 percent ‘gold. However, there is no further information regarding the amount and quality of gold found on the mountain.
(can/fea)
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