The price of raw minerals coming out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is expected to feel the impact of a mine collapse at Glencore’s Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) east of Kolwezi in Lulaba province.
Early reports after yesterday’s tragedy caused by “artisanal miners” seeking to extract copper and cobalt form the open-pit facility gave the death toll as 33.
As the news started spreading, Glencore said 19 people had been confirmed dead, adding though that there was a possibility for “further unconfirmed fatalities”.
Reports coming through this morning said that at least 41 people had died when “part of the copper and cobalt mine in southeast Congo collapsed”.
Lulaba governor Richard Muyej confirmed to journalists that the accident had been caused by “clandestine artisanal diggers who have infiltrated the mine”.
Glencore said that it was currently struggling to cope with at least 2000 “daily intrusions” that posed “a significant risk to its employees, operating equipment and the illegal artisanal miners themselves”.
The Swiss-based mining conglomerate’s share price tumbled as much as 7% on London’s FTSE stock exchange as news broke of the multi-fatality incident.
