Environmental impacts of diamond mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo represents the most important sector of the country’s economy being DRC the second-largest diamond-producer in the world. By far the largest diamond-mines in the DRC are located in southern Katanga province.

There are many types of mining techniques and alluvial mining is the one that usually takes place in DRC.

Alluvial diamonds are diamonds that have been removed from the primary source (Kimberlite) by natural erosion, and eventually deposited in a new environment such as a river beds and floodplains. This type of mining leads obviously to a number of impacts: deforestation, river pollution, water resources exploitation, unhealthy, unregulated and sometimes dangerous environments in which diggers work.. All these effects are strictly related and difficult to evaluate since the DRC is in a situation of institutional chaos and humanitarian crisis due to high rate of malnutrition.

Here we analyze the impact of diamond mining industry on natural resources, and population in Democratic Republic of Congo. To this end using spatial and temporal high resolution data we evaluate the tree cover losses and the water resources use associated with mining activity from 2000 to 2018 and using a dynamic and spatially distributed crop water model we provide alternative use of natural resources (i.e. land and water) presently used for mining so assessing the likelihood to contrast malnourishment.