Artisanal Mining Resumes At Tulizembe After Six-Month Flood Shutdown

Mupandja, August 7, 2026 - Thousands of artisanal miners have resumed operations at the Tulizembe site in Mupandja village, Lualaba province, after a six-month suspension caused by major flooding.

The site hosts more than 15,000 artisanal operators, making its reopening economically important for local livelihoods and the wider mining economy in Lualaba, the DRC's core copper-cobalt province.

Ahead of the restart, local mining representatives, including diggers' president Franck Yuma with support from the COMIBAKAT cooperative, called for cohesion among miners and stronger safety discipline. Yuma urged miners to keep political party flags and effigies out of the site to reduce tensions linked to hate speech, tribalism and the country's broader constitutional disputes.

The resumption underscores the continued importance of artisanal mining to provincial income and supply chains, while also highlighting operational risks at large informal sites, including flooding, safety weaknesses and political mobilization among workers.