Canada secures backing from world leaders against the expropriation of First Quantum's Kolwezi Tailings project in the DRC

World leaders at the G8 Meeting this past weekend expressed their concerns about the illicit exploitation of trade in natural resources including conflict minerals, reiterated their support of the Kimberley Process, and took the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to task.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper brought to the attention of the G8 the expropriation of First Quantum Minerals' Kolwezi Tailings copper project by the DRC government last September.

In the official G8 Muskoka Declaration issued over the weekend by the G8 nations meeting at Huntsville, Ontario, the world leaders declared, "The illicit exploitation of and trade in natural resources from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has directly contributed to the instability and violence that is causing undue suffering among the people of the DRC."

"We urged the DRC to do more to end the conflict and to extend urgently the rule of law. We welcome the recent initiatives of the private sector and the international community to work with the Congolese authorities and to enhance their due diligence to ensure that supply chains do not trade in conflict minerals," the communiqué stressed.
"We also urge candidate countries to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), including the DRC, to complete the EITI implementation process as a mechanism to enhance government and accountability in the extractive sector. The recent inclusion of coltan and cassiterite in the DRC's EITO reporting is a step in the right direction," the G8 noted.
"Further, we welcome the ongoing research and advocacy of international NGOs and local civil society as an important contribution to reducing the conflict opportunities of natural resources," the declaration said.
Last September, the government shut down First Quantum's Kolwezi mine after claiming the Vancouver-based junior copper miner violated parts of its contract. Police sealed off the US$765 million project, which was still under construction.
In May First Quantum Minerals had its mining rights around its Frontier Mine withdrawn by the DRC Supreme Court. The high court ordered that exploration and mining rights for Frontier and Lonshi, an exploration property, be turned over to state-owned company Sodimico, the original owner.
Although First Quantum still operates Frontier and Lonshi mines, the IFC has warned it will not make any more investments in the Congo until the situation is resolved. Canadian officials warned that they could hold up forgiveness of US$11 billion in Congo debt if the DRC government is participating in fraud. However, the Canadians later withdrew their opposition to the cancellation of $1.3 billion and another $1.6 million in DRC debt rescheduling.
First Quantum is a major player in the central African copper belt.
The EITI is a coalition of governments, companies, civil society groups, investors and international organizations, which support an initiative, which increases transparency over payments by mining and oil and gas companies to governments and to government-linked entities, as well as transparency over revenues by those host country governments. The EITI is endorsed by the World Bank, which invests in mining and oil and gas projects in developing nations, such as the DRC.
The finance arm of the World Bank, the IFC, has halted all investments in the DRC and has gone to international arbitration for the first time as a result of the First Quantum expropriation by the DRC government.
The Kimberley Process is designed to certify the origins of rough diamonds from sources which are free of conflict fueled by diamond production. The process was established in 2003 to assure consumers that by purchasing diamonds they were not financing war or human rights abuses.  The Kimberley Process is currently grappling with whether or not to allow Zimbabwe to resume trade in diamonds from the country's Marange fields.

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