I visited an abandoned Gécamines mining site near the outskirts of the city called Gécamines Sud (“Gécamines South”). The mine was once the pride of Lubumbashi and a symbol of its economic strength. At its peak, Gécamines Sud employed thousands of citizens and produced tens of thousands of tons of copper annually. Operations at the mine ceased in the early 1990s, and the site has been dormant ever since.
