List of mining disasters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The following is a list of mining disasters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Especially in informal artisanal mines, deadly mining accidents are commonplace.[1] Despite the frequency of mining deaths, many incidents are not documented.[2]

• March 2001 – coltan mine 30 miles northwest of Goma in North Kivu province – at least 70 killed in a collapse.[3]
• January 8, 2002 – artisanal coltan mine in Masisi Territory in North Kivu province – about 30 killed in a collapse.[4]
• February 21, 2003 – MIBA mine at Mbuji-Mayi in Kasai Oriental province – 10 or 25 miners die under disputed circumstances.[5]
• October 2004 – artisanal diamond mine near Kapangla village in Kasai Occidental province – 10 killed in a collapse.[6]
• February 21, 2005 – artisanal diamond mine near Kapangla village in Kasai Occidental province – at least 20 killed in a collapse.[6]
• January 5, 2007 – artisanal diamond mine near Tshikapa in Kasaï Province – at least 15 killed in a collapse.[7]
• April 3, 2007 – MIBA mine at Bakwanga in Kasai Oriental province – at least 7 artisanal miners killed by collapse.[8]
• August 19, 2009 – artisanal diamond mine near Mbuji-Mayi in Kasai Oriental province – 18 killed in a collapse.[9]
• August 15, 2012 – artisanal gold mine near Pangoyi in Orientale Province – at least 60 killed in a mine shaft collapse.[10]
• May 2013 – Rubaya mines near Rubaya in North Kivu – at least 20 killed in a mine collapse,[11] or more than 100 artisanal miners killed in a landside.[12]
• December 26, 2014 – artisanal mine near Kolwezi in Katanga Province – 15 suffocate (no landslide).[13]
• September 7, 2015 – artisanal cobalt mine near the village of Mbaya/Mabaya 80 km south of Lubumbashi in Katanga province – 15 miners killed in a cave-in, and an additional 18 killed in similar incidents in the same area the week before.[14][15]
• March 8, 2016 – KOV mine near Kolwezi in Lualaba Province – 7 employees killed in a collapse.
• November 2016 – Tenke Fungurume Mine in Lualaba Province – 13 artisanal miners killed in a collapse.[16]
• December 2016 – Makungu mine gold mine in Fizi Territory in South Kivu – at least 20 killed in a collapse.[17]
• October 2018 – artisanal gold mine in Fizi Territory in South Kivu province – at least 37 killed in a collapse.[18]
• March 26, 2019 – Niyabibwe artisanal cassiterite mine 100 km north of Bukavu in South Kivu province – 14 killed in a collapse.[19][20]
• June 27, 2019 – KOV mine near Kolwezi in Lualaba Province – 43 artisanal miners killed in a collapse.[20]
• October 2, 2019 – artisanal gold mine near Kampene in Maniema Province – at least 22 killed in a collapse.[21][22]
• December 14, 2019 – Ndiyo gold mine in Ituri Province – 24 killed in a landslide.[23]
• September 2020 – artisanal mines in Kasongo territory in Maniema Province – 3 killed in a collapse near Mukulungu, and 9 killed in a landside in another village in the same territory the week before.[24]
• September 11, 2020 – artisanal gold mine near Kamituga in South Kivu province – at least 50 killed when trapped in a collapsed mine shaft.[25][2][26]
• May 22, 2021 – artisanal gold mine near Bondo in Bas-Uélé province – 12 killed in a landslide.[27][28]
• July 2021 – mining at the Catoca diamond mine in Angola contaminates the Kasai River, killing 12 people living downstream in the DRC and sickening about 4,500 people.[29]
• June 7, 2022 – artisanal diamond mine near Tshikapa in Kasaï Province – at least 40 killed in a tunnel collapse.
• November 2022 – artisanal gold mine near Ruabaya in North Kivu province – at least 13 killed.[30]
• December 2022 – artisanal gold mines in Fizi Territory in South Kivu – at least 10 killed in mudslides across two sites.[31]
• March 25, 2023 - artisanal gold mine in South Kivu - a collapse in an artisanal gold mine. Nine miners are rescued, and video of their escape is widely shared on social media, sometimes falsely associated with lithium mining.[32][33][34]
• May 6, 2023 - illicit artisanal diamond mine near Diboko village in Kasaï Province - a dozen miners killed in a collapse.[35][36]
• May 8, 2013 - Songambele artisanal coltan mine, located within the Rubaya mines in North Kivu - a provisional count of six deaths with as many as 100 miners trapped.[37][38][39]