Bongbon] KATANGA : MINING ; COMMERCE Belgian 117 Prospecting licences for two years may be obtained for £ 4 . The working of minerals discovered is subject to a royalty of 1 per cent . of the value of the output ( except in the case of precious metals and diamonds, on which the royalty is 5 per cent . ) , and 33 per cent. of the net profits go to the Treasury. There is, however, very small scope for new undertakings, most of the country in the mineral regions in the east of the Belgian Congo being included in concessions of prospect ing or mining rights issued to wealthy corporations.

(5) COMMERCE (a) Local Trade. — Most of the local trade of Katanga is in British hands, but it rests on a system of credit which is often disastrous .

(6) Foreign Trade.-- In 1914 the value of imports into Katanga ( wholly from the south ) was £ 564,365 ; the value of the exports (southward) was estimated at £781,893, their weight being approximately 10,500 tons . The foreign trade of the province is therefore considerable for a newly -opened country so far removed from the usual trade routes. Iron and steel goods, machinery and rails, are the chief imports. These come mainly from Belgium ; Rhodesia and the United King dom being next on the list . Copper, of course, was the chief article of export-over 10,000 tons, more than 95 per cent. of the total, being exported in 1914. There is no preferential tariff on goods of Belgian origin, all imports paying an average of 10 per cent. ad valorem . The Customs receipts for 1914 were £29,591, as against £ 34,906 in 1913. The decline in imports indicated was probably due to the war. The Customs receipts of the Congo have always been extremely small (see p . 99 ) .

1 The export of copper reached 14,000 tons in 1915, while both the export and the price further increased in 1916 .