On the recent landslides in the Rubaya mining area

Between May 2025 and March 2026, several landslides claimed hundreds of lives at the Rubaya mining site (North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo). These events attracted the attention of the international media, but the actual scale of these landslides and the environmental conditions that caused them remain poorly documented. 

Mining in Rubaya is an artisanal activity involving a multitude of sites and basic extraction techniques that require a large workforce. Yet a large proportion of the global supply of coltan – a mineral essential for the manufacture of electronic devices and batteries – comes from this single site, located in the Masisi territory. Rubaya is thus simultaneously one of the most strategic mining sites in the world but also probably one of the deadliest. 

Landslides and mining activity are directly linked: an analysis of the evolution of the mining area’s extent and the occurrence of slope failures at the Rubaya mining site over recent decades demonstrates that slope failures are linked to the presence of major landslides. These landslides are a direct consequence of mining activity. This report aims to describe the processes observed, and to identify the slopes affected by these landslides and the sites most at risk of further collapses.

Rubaya Situation Report - GeoRiskA, March 2026 (in French only)