Running discussion on SP, page-26239

My observations of our mining operations camp…………

IMO, our Board of Directors, have had their ‘eyes on the prize’ from the get-go regardless of the many obstacles thrown at them. I witnessed an extremely professional operation at the AVZ mining camp with highly skilled and talented people employed in key positions.

Workplace health & safety is top priority as is hygiene. The camp is a ‘dry site’ and I watched staff being breathalysed before commencing work. New starters were breathalysed on their first day prior to being given their safety gear. The catering and housekeeping is done by TS.CIS (a French listed global Company). There are safety and hygiene signs everywhere……..in the offices, toilets, stairways, kitchen, mess hall and accommodation quarters.

Breakfast is served at 06:00 each morning. This is followed at 06:30 by a ‘HOD’s operational meeting’ in the board room…..key personnel include a Camp Manager – in charge of construction, earth moving, infrastructure etc, a Site Manager – they have two that work in rotation. The other departmental heads include Geology, Engineering, Mechanical, Maintenance & Security.

The 30 single-man quarters are designed and outfitted so staff can get a decent night’s sleep on a comfortable mattress, each with their own bathroom and shower facilities. Thick mosquito cloth replaces the traditional glass on all windows and the entry door. Each bed has a mosquito net over it ……..comfortable and safe but not extravagant.

The quality of the food dished up by TS.CIS is far better than I expected. Nourishing food with different selections each day including chicken, beef and various vegetables. ………….Therefore all staff eat and rest well each day. No wonder they are a happy bunch! BTW, they have started growing their own vegetables on site


The dormitory for the 150 or so mining construction personnel will have the same comfortable beds, its own kitchen, mess hall, laundry and recreational facilities.

Drinking water is collected from a nearby stream and then passes through an osmosis process via a semipermeable membrane . Water for showering etc is pumped from the river then processed through a sand filter with chlorine added.

As an aside………. when the drilling teams were on-site, they apparently had some ‘big boys’, including a couple of body builders. Here are a few pics of the gym equipment they engineered for themselves to keep fit

AVZ is delivering hope to the local community……….. you can see it in their faces. When they see an AVZ vehicle drive past they wave and smile, especially all the children. AVZ has already employed hundreds of locals. The on-site maintenance team are all locals who live in town. Carpenters, bricklayers, roofers and other tradespeople building Camp Colline are all locals who live in town. Others are employed on a casual ‘as needed’ basis to help clear access for drilling pads etc. TS.CIS has employed and trained locals who live in town for catering and housekeeping duties. Also from my observations, AVZ senior management have a great rapport with Manono’s officialdom.

Moving forward, I believe the AVZ Foundation will positively benefit the community as a whole……… as will the power we generate from the MPiana Mwanga Hydro Power Station.

Yes, the DRC has its issues, what country doesn’t? However let’s not forget the Belgians commenced mining here in 1918 and only left in 1984 due to the declining tin price.


During this time the Belgians built:

• Four tin & tantalum processing plants which mined and processed over 90 million tonnes of ore
• A railway connection from Manono to the port at Myumba on the Congo River (approx. 40klm away) where they exported tin as ingots that were smelted on-site at Manono.
• A light vehicle workshop capable of servicing up to 16 vehicles simultaneously
• A heavy engineering workshop to repair damaged equipment and manufacture spare parts
• A railway workshop
• A smelting facility to process tin and tantalum into ingots for ease of transport
• In 1933 they built and commissioned the 15 mw MPiana Mwanga Hydro Power Station which supplied power to the mine and the town
• And the list goes on………..Check out the quality of the iron they used, it must be ‘pure iron’ because after all these years it has hardly rusted at all
  My time at Manono was an amazing experience that I will never forget.
  
  A big thank you to Nigel & Graeme for giving me the opportunity to do my own research on-site.
  
  All the above is IMO & as usual DYOR
  
  BTW………..in case anyone missed it, the pit is empty