A deadly landslide and troop deployments at two giant mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo highlight how authorities are struggling to cope with citizens’ efforts to share in the country’s immense mineral wealth. The events at Glencore and China Molybdenum’s operations are the latest examples of long-running tensions that exist in the copper- and cobalt-rich Katanga region between the sprawling, foreign-owned industrial mines and locals who extract the minerals using rudimentary hand tools.
