Post #116

🇨🇩DRC: We're Revolutionaries, Not Miners 🌍 The M23 movement has released a reponse (in the video) to the allgetions by Twangiza Mining of stealing 500 kg gold from its mine in the eastern DRC. The main point of the rebuttal is that the rebel group lacks capability to extract some 100 kg of gold per month from the mine, which would account for the lost 500 kg given the movement's 5-month long control of the site. Seemingly, to prove either position, one needs to answer a simple question: 🔸 What had the output of the mine been before M23 arrived, that is, could the 100 kg / month output have possibly been achieved without additional investments and with inefficient (to some extent) management on the part of M23? The answer is - we don't know. By a strange coincidence, Twangiza Mining had never published any data on its output. Some anonymous sources say that the mine was capable of producing 300 kg / month, though this can not be confirmed. It seems that despite the rebel group's denial, the mine nevertheless could have been used by M23 as a source of gold, in confirmation whereof we can mention 2 facts: 🔸 Aerial photography shows considerable processing facilities at the site, which could have been easily rebooted by the rebels, especially given the availability of foreign technical assistane 🔸 The site became a target of consequential aerial attacks on October 15-23, which indicates that the government at least believes that M23 can benefit from it. After all, even if M23 did not seek to restart the entire mining complex, one can be sure that the presence of artisanal miners around the site makes it highly unlikely that M23 has never received any gold from Twangiza. Devils Below