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Mbuji Mayi, MIBA, Tshikapa, Kasai
Dem. Rep. Congo
Main commodities: Diamonds


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The earliest important diamond production within the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) came from alluvial accumulations at Tshikapa (or Kasai) where diamonds were discovered in 1907 along the Kasai River and its tributaries which drain kimberlite occurrences. Initially these were around 40% gem quality, although small, averaging 0.1 carats. The district has been a steady producer to the present day. Some references quote kimberlite sources as being exploited in the district.

Tshikapa is approximately 100 km from the Angolan border, and many of the alluvial diamonds may be sourced upstream across the border in Angola to the south, in the same belt that contains the giant Catoca kimberlite.

The majority of the current DRC diamond production comes from Mbuji Mayi or MIBA in Kasai Province in western part of the country some 300 km east of Tshikapa. The district has yielded mainly low value industrial diamond in very large quantities from colluvial deposits downslope from six kimberlites and in several alluvial operations.

Legal production from Mbuji Mayi in 2001 amounted to 6 million carats of near gem quality industrial diamonds.

The most recent source geological information used to prepare this decription was dated: 2002.    
This description is a summary from published sources, the chief of which are listed below.
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