Gold miners in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) no longer fear homicidal warlords and militias but they are still being ruthlessly exploited – by a plague of corrupt government officials, bureaucrats and security personnel, who all demand illegal taxes, fees and levies from the miners without delivering any meaningful services in return, according to a major research report released today.

Produced by the Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW), the report – Conflict Gold to Criminal Gold: The new face of artisanal gold mining in Congo – highlights the poor governance of the mining sector, which could be the driving force behind genuine socio-economic development in the region, and the daily battle for survival by thousands of artisanal and small scale gold miners, who produce nearly all of eastern DRC’s gold.

For more information, go to www.gold.sarwatch.org