Étoile is noteworthy not only because it was the first mine the Belgians started exploiting in the Congo in 1911 but also because it was the first industrial mine in the Congo at which artisanal miners were formally encouraged to work, beginning in the late 1990s. Soon after seizing the country in a military coup in 1997, Laurent Kabila promoted artisanal mining at Étoile to generate desperately needed revenue for his fledgling government. Although local villagers were promised improved incomes and living conditions, their labor was instead used to restart production at Étoile for paltry
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