Stories from the Field

In July 2019, the Burundian government stressed the importance of the mining sector, which contributes more to the national economy than the traditional exports such as coffee and tea. ITSCI covers 155 sites in 21 communes in Burundi and directly employs at least...

In 2015, the United Nations established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), composed of 17 goals aimed to be achieved by 2030. Under Goal 8, which promotes decent work and economic growth for all, target 8.7 calls for an end to child labour worldwide by 2025....

ITSCI and the Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB) took the opportunity in organising a mine site visit on 17 October 2018 for the 150 delegates attending the 59th Tantalum Niobium International Study Center (T.I.C.) in Kigali, Rwanda. This allowed for the...

The ITSCI traceability and due diligence programme was piloted in 2010 at one mine in DRC's South Kivu province. Eight years later, ITSCI covers seven DRC provinces and nearly 1,000 sites where 40,000-plus artisanal miners extract and sell conflict-free 3T minerals....

In 2016, the ITSCI programme was implemented at five mine sites in in Shabunda, South Kivu, DRC. A local multi-stakeholder committee, or CLS, was set up and trained. Members began holding monthly meetings to discuss and monitor activities and review and mitigate risks...

In order to ensure that all stakeholders within the mineral supply chain adhere to ITSCI traceability and due diligence procedures, ITSCI/Pact staff work in collaboration with Rwandan government staff, namely the Rwanda Mines, Petroleum & Gas Board (RMB) and their...

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), are often not considered by miners. Besides dire consequences such as injury or death, accidents at mines can have negative social and psychological implications as well as economic consequences when mining activities become...

Since the implementation of ITSCI at the Kalay Boeing mine site in the Walikale Territory, of the North Kivu Province, DRC, miners were able to sell to the international market, becoming a critical livelihood provider for the local community. However, in January 2017,...

In 2015, conflict broke out between two cooperatives at the Kasese mine, which led to the death of two people and the involvement of the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC) (Armed forces of DRC) to control and secure the mine site favoured...

Through collaboration and feedback from PACT and its partners, the Government of Burundi was able to identify and revise issues created by previous policies that hindered mining production and devise new mining regulations. Subsequent to these new regulations, the 3T...

Since the start of the iTSCi Programme across Rwanda in 2010, we have worked closely with government staff of the Rwanda Mines Board (RMB) to ensure tracea-bility and due diligence is in place for all 3T minerals exported from the country. Traceability relies on RMB...

Each month, our on-the-ground teams make hundreds of visits to mining areas, transport routes and mineral processing facilities in order to record potential issues with the 3T mineral supply chain which can then be further verified and highlighted to all stakeholders...