DRC: Kamoa Copper mine allegedly causing severe environmental and social impacts
Summary
Date Reported: 10 Dec 2025
Location: Congo (the Democratic Republic of the)
Companies
Ivanhoe Mines - Joint venture participant , Kamoa Copper SA (Joint venture between Zijin Mining (39.6%), Ivanhoe (39.6%), DRC government (20%), and Crystal River Global Limited (0.8%)) - Parent Company , Zijin Mining - Joint venture participant , Crystal River Global Limited - Joint venture participantProjects
Kamoa-Kakula - OperationAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Ecosystem: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Mining , Gender not reported ) , Community: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Mining , Gender not reported )Issues
Water pollution , Clean, Healthy & Sustainable Environment , Insufficient/inadequate consultation , Displacement , Forced Relocation , Protection from arbitrary arrest, detention or exile , Protests , Human Rights Defenders , Access to Water , Water pollution , Soil pollution , Air pollution , Freedom of Expression , Land Rights , Access to Non-Judicial RemedySource type: NGO
Summary
Date Reported: 10 Dec 2025
Location: Congo (the Democratic Republic of the)
Companies
Kamoa Copper SA (Joint venture between Zijin Mining (39.6%), Ivanhoe (39.6%), DRC government (20%), and Crystal River Global Limited (0.8%)) - Parent Company , Crystal River Global Limited - Joint venture participant , Zijin Mining - Joint venture participant , Ivanhoe Mines - Joint venture participantProjects
Kamoa-Kakula - OperationAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Community: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Mining , Gender not reported ) , Ecosystem: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Mining , Gender not reported ) , Affected community's leader or member: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Mining , Gender not reported )Issues
Insufficient/inadequate consultation , Access to Water , Water pollution , Water pollution , Soil pollution , Air pollution , Displacement , Forced Relocation , Freedom of Expression , Insufficient/inadequate consultation , Land Rights , Access to Non-Judicial RemedySource type: NGO
Summary
Date Reported: 10 Dec 2025
Location: Congo (the Democratic Republic of the)
Companies
Kamoa Copper SA (Joint venture between Zijin Mining (39.6%), Ivanhoe (39.6%), DRC government (20%), and Crystal River Global Limited (0.8%)) - Parent Company , Crystal River Global Limited - Joint venture participant , Ivanhoe Mines - Joint venture participant , Zijin Mining - Joint venture participantProjects
Kamoa-Kakula - OperationAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Community: ( Number unknown - Congo (the Democratic Republic of the) , Mining , Gender not reported ) , Ecosystem: ( Number unknown - Congo (the Democratic Republic of the) , Mining , Gender not reported )Issues
Displacement , Forced Relocation , Access to Water , Water pollution , Clean, Healthy & Sustainable Environment , Insufficient/inadequate consultation , Displacement , Forced Relocation , Protection from arbitrary arrest, detention or exile , Protests , Human Rights Defenders , Access to Water , Water pollution , Soil pollution , Air pollution , Freedom of Expression , Land Rights , Access to Non-Judicial RemedySource type: NGO
Summary
Date Reported: 10 Dec 2025
Location: Congo (the Democratic Republic of the)
Companies
Kamoa Copper SA (Joint venture between Zijin Mining (39.6%), Ivanhoe (39.6%), DRC government (20%), and Crystal River Global Limited (0.8%)) - Parent Company , Crystal River Global Limited - Joint venture participant , Ivanhoe Mines - Joint venture participant , Zijin Mining - Joint venture participantProjects
Kamoa-Kakula - OperationAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Community: ( Number unknown - Location unknown - Sector unknown , Gender not reported )Issues
Protection from arbitrary arrest, detention or exile , Protests , Human Rights Defenders , Access to Water , Water pollution , Clean, Healthy & Sustainable Environment , Insufficient/inadequate consultation , Displacement , Forced Relocation , Soil pollution , Air pollution , Land Rights , Freedom of Expression , Access to Non-Judicial RemedySource type: NGO
"The High Price of Copper from Congo: Dutch Investments and Abuses at Africa's largest Copper Mine" 10 December 2025
'This report investigates the human rights and environmental impacts linked to the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa's largest copper mine, and the role played by Dutch financial institutions through their investments.
Based on field research and financial analysis, the study reveals serious concerns about water, pollution, forced displacement, lack of community participation, and the criminalisation of peaceful protest, while showing that major Dutch investors have so far failed to meaningfully engage with the companies responsible.
Copper is essential for the global energy transition, but its extractiuon often comes at a high social and environmental cost. International standards such as the OECDGuidelines and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights require financial institutions to prevent and address harms linked to their investments.
This report shows that, in practice, those responsibilities are not being met in the case of the Kamoa-Kakula mine.
- The Kamoa-Kakula mine, operated by Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin Mining Group, has been linked to contaminated drinking water, inadequate resettlement and repression of local activists
- Seven Dutch financial institutions hold more that €300 million in shares and bonds linked to the mine's parent companies
- None of the major investors investigated are conducting effective management with the companies regarding the documented abuses
- Existing grievance mechanisms and community consultation processes are weak, inaccessible or ineffective, leaving affected communities without remedy'