ON THE GROUND
Lake Kivu on the border between Rwanda and the DRC. To get to Bisie, take a flight to Kigali, drive
to Goma in the DRC, cross the border, fly to Walikale, and hop onto a 4 × 4 for a four-hour drive to
Bisie.
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Robinson, managing director of Alphamin
Bisie Mining. According to Robinson, there
were, at times, five armed groups involved,
and so much money that it corrupted the
Congolese security services. Therefore,
corrupt elements were supporting different
groups of artisanal miners and illegal co-
operatives. Robinson says that at one stage,
there were as many as 15 000 artisanal miners working the hill. “Today, there are less
than 400,” says Robinson.
Alphamin embarked on a relentless
programme of negotiation and compromise
to ensure peace returns to the area, and
although platoons of armed security
personnel and police still guard its operation
(and visitors), it feels safe at Bisie. What CEO
Boris Kamstra and his team, led by Robinson and chief operating officer Trevor Faber,
have achieved up to now, is nothing short
of astounding. They hacked and built a road
through almost impenetrable forest, dealt
with the artisanal and security concerns,
and, against all odds, are busy constructing
a mine, which is on track to produce the
highest-grade tin product in the world, in
time, as promised.
Security is still a concern in the eastern part of
the DRC, and an armed police officer guards
each vehicle in the convoy to Bisie. Workers from the local community are
working on the excavation of the horizontal
ventilation shaft at Bisie. Richard Robinson, a born Congolese and
managing director of Alphamin Bisie Mining,
has done a sterling job in keeping all the
stakeholders in Walikale happy.
FEBRUARY 2018