Remote Sensing For Environmental Monitoring And Remediation Of Areas Degraded By Mining Activities In The Democratic Republic Of Congo: Call For Action

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) is a country with strong potential in mineral raw materials; therefore, it is qualified as a “Geological Scandal.” It is the world’s leading producer of cobalt, and in 2022 it will be among the five major copper producers in the world. Although the mining sector plays a major role in economic growth, the country does not fully benefit from these resources due to the uncontrolled exploitation of raw materials, fraud, mining smuggling, and the lack of means for local processing of minerals. natural resources. DR Congo was classified by the World Bank as one of the five poorest countries in the world in 2022, despite the potential it presents. Given the great importance of critical minerals in the energy transition, the demand for raw materials is increasingly high. The DR Congo receives more requests for mining titles for the exploitation of resources. Unfortunately, these resources are non-renewable, and their exploitation destroys the environment. New technologies based on spatial analysis and remote sensing applied in the mining sector are capable of monitoring operating activities to combat the anarchic exploitation of resources and also control the waste evacuated by mining companies during the mining phases of exploration and especially during the hydrometallurgical treatment of ores. Areas damaged by these activities can be remediated using new remediation engineering techniques and tools. Remote sensing would also be involved in the acquisition of data that is difficult to access based on gaps in environmental reports. For the application of these techniques, the Ministry of Mines of DR Congo will have to act through its technical services and other services of the Ministry of Scientific Research and Technological Development, such as the national remote sensing center, the national geological service, and the geographical institute of Congo.