URANIUM IN DRC Making a comeback

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REPUBLIQUE DEMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO Ministère des Mines CADASTRE MINIER REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE ON UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CLASSIFICATION 2009 FOR EVALUATION OF URANIUM AND

1 REPUBLIQUE DEMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO Ministère des Mines CADASTRE MINIER REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE ON UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CLASSIFICATION 2009 FOR EVALUATION OF URANIUM AND THORIUM RESOURCES AND TO LEVERAGE TRANSPARENT AND EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS LUXOR, EGYPTE, 1822 OCTOBER 2015 URANIUM IN DRC Making a comeback Paulin MAWAYA Head of Department

2 PRESENTATION OUTLINE INTRODUCTION HISTORICAL EVENTS URANIUM OCCURENCES GEOLOGY PERSPECTIVES AND CONCLUSION

3 1. INTRODUCTION D.R.Congo is located in the Central part of Africa Official Language: French to which we can add 4 main local languages : Lingala, Kikongo, Tshiluba and Swahili. Population: ca. 75,000,000 inhabitants. The official Legal System is RomanoGermanic.

4 2. HISTORICAL EVENTS Shinkolobwe is the name of uranium mine in the Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC), The mineral deposit was dicovered in 1915 by Robert Rich Sharp, The mine was developed in 1921 by Union Minière du Haut Katanga (UMHK). Today it is owned by GECAMINES, Uraniumbearing ore was initially exported to Belgium for the extraction of radium.

5 The United States used Shinkolobwe s uranium resource to supply the atomic bomb construction Project to during the second World War. The U.S. Army acquired 1200 tons of concentrated rich uranium from Congo The World became aware of the enormous destructive power of nuclear weapons The mining site has been inoperative since 1960 because of the high exploitation costs and the dangers involved with uranium ore The mining site was officially closed on January 28, 2004 by presidential decree. However eight people died and a further thirteen people were injured in July 2004 when part of mine collapsed

6 On March 2009, an agreement was signed between AREVA CEO Lauvergeon and the Congolese Government of the DRC Agreement implies creating a joint commission to develop a technical prospecting programme and a detailed inventory of U mining sites in a database Agreement is based on «winwin partenership» to develop the country s mining resources AREVA estimated that «DRC s size and geographical profile have given it major uranium reserves» On May 2013, AREVA visited Shinkolobwe mine and made a preliminary report

7 3. URANIUM OCCURENCES

8 Uranium occurences Mineralisation Host lithology Shinkolobwe U+Cu+Co+Ni+Fe + Au+Pt+Pd Metasediment Faulting/ Folding Kalongwe Cu+Co+U+Fe+ Au+Pt+Pd Metasediment Faulting/ Folding Luiswishi Cu+Co+U+Fe+V Metasediment Faulting/ Folding Swambo Cu+Co+Fe+U Metasediment Faulting/ Folding Musonoi Cu+Co+Mn+U+Pt Metasediment Faulting/ +Pd+Au+Ni Folding Kamoto principal Cu+Co+Ni+U+ Fe+Ba Metasediment Faulting Dikuluwe Cu+Co+Ni+U+ Fe+V Metasediment Faulting Metamorphic Kobokobo Major Feature Pegmatite Historical Resources (U3O8)t Average grade (ppm)

9 3. REGIONAL GEOLOGY

10 GENERAL STRATIGRAPHY KAROO et KALAHARI Group ±560/550Ma Super KUNDELU NEO NGU P R O Groupe du KATANGA Ku TER ±880Ma OZO ÏQ U E NGUBA Ng SubGroupe Lithologies Plateaux Ku3 Kiubo Ku2 Shales et arkoses Shales dolomitiques, shales sableux, calcaires roses. Diamictite Shales dolomitiques et silts Kalule Ku1 Monwezi Ng2 Likasi Ng1 Mwashya R4 Dipeta R3 R O A N MESO PROTEROZOIQUE Mines R2 R.A.T. R1 Shales sableux ou dolomitiques, dolomites ou calcaires Shales sableux ou dolomitiques. Diamictite Shales dolomitiques. Dolomites, jaspes et pyroclastites Interstratification de dolomies et de silts argilodolomitiques Dolomies, shales diolomitiques et silts. Silts dolomitiques ; grès et pélites Socle KIBARIEN et /ou PRE KIBARIEN

11 MINING PRODUCTION SHINKOLOBWE

12 PERSPECTIVES AND CONCLUSION U was mined only from Shinkolobwe mine, Average grade is between and ppm and resources are estimated around t U3O8 U exploration and mining have never been perfomed using conventional methods and techniques, U mineralization is always associed with other minerals ( Copper, Cobalt, Nickel, Palladium, Thorium, Monazite) There is strong need for advanced exploration methods and techniques, including expert assistance to design exploration programmes, equipment provision, capacity building in U resource evaluation, Legal and Regulatory framework to include U Mining

13 Thanks for your kind attention

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