Forminière

In the early years of the 20th century the Congo Free State propaganda war persuaded Leopold II of Belgium that he might not be able to keep personal ownership of the Congo Free State for much longer, so that he attempted to secure continued economic benefit from it by creating three companies that would control the territory's principal resources: the Union Minière du Haut-Katanga, Compagnie de Chemin de fer du Katanga, and Forminière. These were established in the fall of 1906 with advice from Jean Jadot and Hubert Droogmans [nl], respectively with initial capital of 10 million, 2 million, and 3.5 million Belgian francs.^[2]^: 500 The Forminière's capital, initially divided into 7,000 shares, was initially held by Leopold's Foundation of the Crown and Congo Free State (58 percent); a group of American investors led by Thomas Fortune Ryan and Daniel Guggenheim (25 percent); and a group of Belgian investors led by the Société Générale de Belgique (17 percent).^[1]^: 50 Leopold's plans were thwarted when the Free State was taken over by the Belgian Government in 1908, however, as he was not allowed to keep the Foundation of the Crown for himself. Instead, the Foundation was terminated, and its assets and liabilities were directly assumed by the Belgian state.^[1]^: 51 The Belgian state thus retained a 55-percent ownership stake in the Forminière.^[3]

In 1907, Forminière prospectors collected samples near Tshikapa which were found two years later to contain a diamond, creating the basis for the company's successful development diamond mining in Kasai. Subesequent prospection in 1911 indicated a significant quantity of diamonds, on which basis the Forminière more than doubled its capital to 16,000 shares.^[1]^: 52 In 1918, Forminière discovered a second major site for diamond extraction at Bakwanga.^[4] For the length of its existence until 1961, Forminière kept a monopoly on diamond production in Kasai.^[5]

Due in part to a drop in production that coincided with the outbreak of the Second World War, the United States' Office of Strategic Services to investigate possible diversion of production to the Axis powers. In a 1945 lawsuit against De Beers, the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division attempted to get access to purchasing directly from Forminière instead of through the De Beers as a middleman.^[6] The lawsuit was eventually dropped in 1948 due to jurisdictional issues.^[7]

By early 1958, Forminière employed around 15,000 workers in Kasai, mostly in Bakwanga as the Tshikapa site had entered a declining phase.^[8] Forminière and its rival, the Société minière de Bécéka,^{[citation needed]} dominated the production of diamonds in the Belgian Congo. In 1959, Forminière's production of diamonds rose to 425,234 carats.^[9]

In the Congo Crisis following the 1960 independence of Congo, the Forminière was the dominant financial supporter of the secessionist state of South Kasai and received concessions from its government in exchange.^[10]^: 86 Following the deposition of South Kasai leader Albert Kalonji in December 1961, the Forminière's mining operations ceased abruptly in January 1962.^[3] Its mining operations were taken over by a newly formed Congolese company, the Societé Minière de Bakwanga (known as Miba) majority-owned by the Congolese state. The Forminière company in Brussels was eventually wound up in 1966.^[11]

Overview

See also

References

Bibliography

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