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and Marijke Verpoorten study the mining sector in Eastern DR Congo, with a special focus on interactions between artisanal and industrial mining, and differences across these production modes in terms of linkages with local livelihoods and violence. Co-authors who made contributions to this research project include , and .

• How does artisanal / industrial mining support local livelihoods?
• How does artisanal / industrial mining relate to violence?
• How do artisanal and industrial mining interact, and how do these interactions affect livelihoods and violence?

We rely on several data sources, that we analyse using both quantitative and qualitative methods:

• Geo-referenced information on the location of artisanal and industrial mining sites from and the .
• Geo-referenced information on conflict events from and from .
• Semi-structured interviews with stakeholders & focus group discussions with artisanal miners
• Structured interviews with 469 artisanal miners who were ‘illegally’ working in the mining site, where was the legal concession holder.

Geenen S., Stoop N. and Verpoorten M. (2020).  (2020) Resources Policy.

Stoop, N. and Verpoorten, M. (2020), , Democratic Republic of Congo. Development and Change.

Stoop N., Verpoorten M. and van der Windt P. (2019). . World Development 122: 660-674. Replication files are available .

Stoop N, Verpoorten M, van der Windt P (2018) in the DRC. PLoS ONE 13(8): e0201783. Replication files are available .

Kilosho B. J., Stoop N. and Verpoorten M. (2017).  Resources policy 53: 356-368.

Stoop Nik, Kilosho Buraye Janvier, Verpoorten Marijke (2016) Relocation, reorientation, or confrontation? Insights from a representative survey among artisanal miners in Kamituga, South Kivu. Antwerpen, IOB, Institute of Development Policy and Management, University of Antwerp, 55 p

FOR UNGATED PREPRINTS, see .

We summarized our research findings for a broader audience in eight policy briefs and blogs:

• ,
• ,
• ,
• ,
• ,
• .

Marijke Verpoorten also gave a Spectrum lecture for the general public, titled “Wiens conflictmineralen? Artisanale versus industriële mijnbouw in DR Congo (12/11/2020).

We presented our work in various academic conferences, seminars and workshops, and organized an in Bukavu in December 2016, that attracted 150 participants from over 70 different institutions including research institutions (from both the South and North), Congolese ministries, NGOs, think thanks, and private companies.

The complete structured survey and all other survey instruments can be accessed below: ;  

for the paper Stoop N., Verpoorten M. and van der Windt P. (2019). . World Development 122: 660-674.

for the paper Stoop N, Verpoorten M, van der Windt P (2018) in the DRC. PLoS ONE 13(8): e0201783.

The research is funded by FWO – Research Foundation Flanders (Research grant 1517614N, PhD scholarship 11Q2816N and EOS Project 30784531), and by CEGEMI – Centre d'Expertise en Gestion Minière at the Université catholique de Bukavu.

Permission to conduct the research was granted by the University of Antwerp’s Ethics Committee for the Social Sciences and Humanities (file nr. SHW_15_06), by the Congolese Ministry of Mines, by SAESSCAM (the Congolese public Service for Assistance to Artisanal and Small-Scale mining) and by the local authorities in Kamituga.

This research would not have been possible without the artisanal miners of Kamituga who offered their time to be interviewed; the enumerators (Alex Nyakabasa, Célestin Mukotanyi Munyali, Fortunat, Bamporiki Bisanga, Gabriel Mugisho Dunia, Isidore Barhanywerha Baderhakuguma, John Kadjunga, Jules Nyunda Nkuru, Olivier Rubambura Kabuye, Pascal Barhanywanywa, Serge Nyembo Charles and Teiggy Birhula Mongane) who worked in sometimes challenging circumstances; the local guides in Kamituga (Belgique Babingwa, Jean Bisimwa, Leonard Kabungulu, Oswald Bilinganene, Paul Aishi Wabutongo and Waluna Itongwa); and Janvier Kilosho who contributed to supervising the data collection. We offer them our sincere gratitude. We further owe thanks to employees of Banro, SAESSCAM, IPIS (International Peace Information Service) and INSO (International NGO Safety Organization) for their assistance and for sharing valuable information and data with us.