Diamond Mining, Congo

Posted in News by Admin on January 19th, 2009

Speculators come from all over Congo to dig for diamonds at the Matempu Mine near Mbuji May. Men, women and children work at the mine, hoping to find their fortunes buried at the bottom of a 20-meter hole dug into the soft earth. Locals say that on average 15 people die in this mine every month from to shaft collapses or fights. Most of these miners and their families survive on well below the poverty benchmark of $1 per day. They frequently work for several months with no income while they dig shafts deep enough to reach the diamonds.Mbuji Mayi is Congo’s third largest city, originally built to house 6,000 workers and their families for the state-owned mining company. The city now has a population variously estimated between 3.5 and 4.5 million. According to the local mayor, 85% are unemployed migrant workers.