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Paper short abstract

Formalisation of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in the Congolese Copperbelt is often framed around harm reduction. Yet fieldwork across formal and informal sites in Lualaba reveals that burdensome compliance requirements erode miner livelihoods, paradoxically hindering formalisation efforts.

Paper long abstract

The Democratic Republic of the Congo contains vast high‑quality deposits of two key critical minerals—copper and cobalt—making Congolese extraction central to global just transition targets. Artisanal and small‑scale mining (ASM), which contributes an estimated 15–30% of national cobalt production, is nonetheless framed in global policy debates through narratives of risk: child labour, environmental degradation, informality, and insecurity, leading many to advocate for formalisation.

This paper interrogates that prescription. Drawing on life history interviews with 79 ASM miners across four sites in Lualaba Province, alongside focus group discussions and key informant interviews with government officials and civil society, we examine how formalisation is experienced on the ground. Findings reveal that complex administrative requirements, including cooperative membership and significant fee burdens erect barriers that drive miners toward informality rather than drawing them into regulated frameworks. Critically, these effects are gendered: formalisation regimes that appear nominally neutral prove structurally disadvantageous to women, compounding existing exclusions.

We argue that sustainable formalisation in the Congolese Copperbelt must reckon seriously with livelihoods. Policies that subordinate economic viability to regulatory compliance risk alienating the very miners they seek to incorporate — and in doing so, undermine the governance objectives that motivate them. As global demand for Congolese minerals intensifies under just transition agendas, the stakes of getting formalisation right could not be higher.