NO SIGNS OF MINING ACTIVITY AT SHINKOLOBWE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001391

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EB/TRA/OTP/AVP
COMMERCE FOR MERIVERO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2016
TAGS: ENRG EMIN KGIT ETRD PREL PGOV IAEA CG IR
SUBJECT: NO SIGNS OF MINING ACTIVITY AT SHINKOLOBWE

REF: A. DAR ES SALAAM 1376

B. KINSHASA 1309

Classified By: EconOff D. Popovich for reasons 1.4 b/d/e.


1. (C) Summary. In the course of investigating ongoing rumors
and press reports of a DRC-Iranian enriched uranium link,
EconOff visited DRC's Shinkolobwe uranium mine August 9, but
found no evidence of any mining. Neither visual nor
scientific evidence at or around Shinkolobwe indicates mining
occurs at that site. The roads to the mine were nearly
impassable, parts of the mine had been backfilled and flooded
years ago, there were no signs of excavation, digging or use,
and the entire site appeared overgrown and abandoned.
Unmonitored mining activity can and does occur at other
locations along the expansive Congolese copper belt, although
not likely of significant quantities of radioactive uranium.
End Summary.


2. (SBU) August 9, EconOff visited Shinkolobwe uranium mine,
in Katanga province, after obtaining the requisite written
authorizations from the GDRC's Ministries of Mines, Foreign
Affairs and Interior, and from officials in Lubumbashi and
Kambove. Three Mine Police accompanied EconOff to the site,
as did Kapenda Zeka Sakuzomba, a political advisor from the
Katanga Governor's office. EconOff visited in part to respond
to internationally-circulating rumors and press reports about
a DRC-Iranian uranium smuggling link (reftels).

ACCESS
--------------


3. (SBU) Shinkolobwe sits in the center of a 250 mile-long
belt of uranified minerals that stretches from south of
Lubumbashi to Kalongwe. It is approximately 75 miles from
Lubumbashi, near Kambove. There are two dirt roads into
Shinkolobwe from Kambove. The main road, however, has not
been used since about February 2006, when a bridge along it
collapsed under the weight of a truck. The bridge has not yet
been repaired. The second road is rocky, overgrown and
washed out. It is no wider than a foot-trail in many places,
and would not be passable in the rainy season or by any truck
larger than a standard SUV. The 4x4 in which EconOff traveled
took approximately one hour to drive two miles from the
beginning of this road to the mine. Local villagers use this
road to transport wood, charcoal and other goods on foot and
bicycle, but EconOff did not see any evidence of recent
vehicular traffic.


4. (C) There was one roadblock near the beginning of this
road, manned by seven armed DRC Mine Police. The guards had
not been informed of EconOff's trip, and it took thirty
minutes of phone calls and discussion before they allowed
EconOff to pass. According to the Mine Police accompanying
EconOff, Mine Police guard all the mines around Likasi,
including Shinkolobwe. On average, there are two to three
guards at each mine in one-month rotations. In all, there
are 300 mine police at the mines around Likasi. (Comment: It
does not seem possible to circumvent the checkpoint at
Shinkolobwe, or to work the mine, without the complicity of
local authorities. End comment.)

NEIGHBORS
--------------


5. (U) There is one village along the secondary road, called
Kawama; it is about two miles from the mine, and inhabited by
approximately 300 people. There are reportedly four other
villages in the area, situated along the main road, each with
approximately 500 residents. The villagers travel freely up
and down the road, and approximately six walked through the
mining site during the inspection. No villagers appeared to
have been engaged in mining activity in the recent past,
because they lacked tools or mechanical equipment of any kind
and were actively engaged in other economic enterprises, such
as producing charcoal and harvesting crops.

THE MINE ITSELF
--------------


6. (C) EconOff walked, inspected and photographed the mine.

KINSHASA 00001391 002 OF 002


There were no signs at the mine warning villagers of
radiation exposure, and aside from the roadblock, which
locals were permitted to pass through freely, there was
nothing to prevent people from entering and traversing the
site. The roads at the mine itself were largely overgrown
with vegetation. There were no tire-tracks, disturbed soil,
waste rock, recent mine tailings or other signs of mining
activity. There were artisanal mining tunnels, but these were
constructed in 2004 and do not appear to have been used in
the last year. Further, parts of the mine remained
backfilled and flooded.


7. (SBU) The former milling plant at the mine was also nearly
completely dismantled, and no other milling facility appeared
on-site. Uranium occurs in low concentrations in rock,
usually between .1 and .2 percent. With a concentration of
1%, 1 ton of raw rock will produce 1 kilogram of uranium
after it is milled into its consolidated form, yellowcake
(U308). A large amount of rock must therefore be mined to
produce uranium, and this rock must then either be milled
on-site or transported en mass to a milling facility. Without
a mill on-site, thousands and thousands of tons of rock would
have to be excavated and transported from Shinkolobwe to
generate profitable quantities of uranium. There was no
evidence that this scale of excavation, or any excavation
whatsoever, was occurring, and it does not seem possible to
transport these quantities of raw rock on Shinkolobwe's
existing access road.


8. (SBU) EconOff did not have a Geiger counter with him, and
therefore was not able to measure radioactivity. The UN Group
of Experts' July 2006 report noted average Geiger counter
reading levels of 1 to 5 micro Sieverlt per hour (mSv/hr) at
the site, a level that is considered unhealthy for long-term
exposure, and levels nearing 55.8 mSv/hr on some of the
tailings.

COULD MINING OCCUR ELSEWHERE?
--------------


9. (C) There are numerous copper and coltan mines within a
few miles of Shinkolobwe, including mines run by Gecamines
and companies called SADRC and Orange Mining. These
operations are likely generating uranified rock as a
byproduct of copper and coltan mining. These mines ship
thousands of pounds of rock on 18 wheelers to the Zambian
border each day, and if they are collecting uranified rock
and it is profitable to export it, there is little to prevent
them from doing so.

COMMENT
--------------


10. (SBU) Although Shinkolobwe appears closed, with no
evidence that the mine is the current source of any
substantial uranium mining or trafficking, regular visits and
monitoring are advisable - - if for no other reason then to
put to rest periodic sensationalistic rumors and media
reports. End comment.
MEECE