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/ 8 November 2007

DRC experts hurry to test river for radiation

Environmental experts hurried to the south-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Thursday to test water from a river where authorities suspect 18 tonnes of radioactive minerals were dumped last week. Officials feared contamination of the river, an important source of drinking water for thousands of people in Katanga province.

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/ 7 November 2007

Radioactive minerals dumped in DRC

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have launched an inquiry into the suspected dumping of 18 tonnes of highly radioactive minerals into a river in Katanga province. The minerals, including 17 tonnes of copper ore with a level of radioactivity 50 times the tolerable limit, were seized last month in the southern Katanga mining town of Likasi.

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/ 24 October 2007

DRC’s faded copper town perks up in mining rush

Amid rusted hulks of abandoned plants and huge mine craters, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s former top copper town Kolwezi is showing signs of a reawakening. The town in the south-eastern copperbelt went into virtual hibernation two decades ago after looting by former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko forced the closure of most of the region’s copper mines