Congo’s justice ministry has ordered a judicial investigation into suspected illegal mining after an inter-agency commission seized several thousand tons of copper and cobalt along with more than 500 trucks, other vehicles and machinery in the southeastern provinces of Lualaba and Haut-Katanga.
The scale of the haul points to how much ore is leaving one of the world’s most important mineral belts outside official channels. Congo is the largest cobalt producer on the planet and the second-biggest copper producer, and the metals feed directly into electric vehicle batteries and power grids.
What the Commission Found
According to a justice ministry statement issued Monday, the commission comprised officers of the Congolese National Police, the Armed Forces of the DRC, military magistrates and experts from the mines ministry. It reported significant seizures at several mining sites, notably at Menda in Lualaba province, where Eurasian Resources Group holds mining licences.
Justice Minister Guillaume Ngefa Atondoko Andali instructed the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation to open investigations to establish the facts, identify any criminal liability and draw the necessary legal consequences. The reported incidents are believed to relate primarily to mining fraud, the illegal exploitation of mineral resources and mineral smuggling, the ministry said, without prejudice to other offences the investigations may uncover.
“The fight against mining fraud and the illegal exploitation of our natural resources is essential to safeguarding our sovereignty and protecting the nation’s economic interests,” Ngefa said in the statement.
ERG’s Long Complaint
The Menda seizures land on ground ERG knows well. The company has complained in recent months about illegal mining on its concessions, including at its flagship Metalkol copper-cobalt operation, the justice ministry statement and Bloomberg reporting noted.
That a licensed operator of ERG’s size could not keep unauthorized miners off its ground shows the enforcement gap Congo is now trying to close. The country’s copper belt has drawn thousands of informal diggers and traders over the years, and ore has long moved through routes that bypass official sales counters.
Regulator Suspended, Foreign Nationals Detained
The investigation follows a series of enforcement measures. Last week, Mines Minister Louis Kabamba Watum suspended the head of the state artisanal mining agency SAEMAPE, accusing him of failing to prevent illegal operations on licensed concessions.
Authorities have also detained more than 300 foreign nationals, mainly Chinese citizens, in operations concentrated around Kolwezi, a major mining hub in Lualaba. Congolese civilians and military personnel were reportedly arrested as well. The detentions follow reports last week that more than 60 foreign nationals were held at Menda over alleged illegal mining and immigration offences.
The crackdown on Chinese nationals comes despite the prominent presence of Chinese mining companies in the country. CMOC and Zijin Mining, both listed in Hong Kong, account for a substantial share of Congo’s copper and cobalt output, and their operations sit alongside a parallel world of informal extraction that the state is now moving against.
State Buyer Steps In
Kinshasa is not only seizing ore. Congo’s state-owned cobalt company, Entreprise Générale du Cobalt, said it had purchased approximately 100 truckloads of copper-cobalt ore since the Musompo mineral trading centre in Kolwezi resumed operations on October 26. EGC did not disclose the tonnage.
The centre opened in 2023 but stayed largely underused because of its distance from some mining sites, administrative difficulties along transport routes and multiple charges. Its reopening was overseen by the mines minister, with the mineral certification agency CEEC managing technical operations and EGC acting as buyer.
EGC said some of the ore it purchased came from operations overseen by an interagency task force, including seized or intercepted cargoes brought to the centre for compliance checks and sale through formal channels. Some cooperatives have voluntarily delivered their production directly to the centre. The company applies a reference pricing framework developed with government agencies that takes into account cargo weight, ore grades and potential by-products.
The Musompo purchases give the enforcement campaign a commercial endpoint: ore taken off the black market has somewhere official to go. Whether that channel can absorb the volumes now being intercepted is the question traders in Kolwezi will be watching, with EGC’s roughly 100 truckloads since October 26 the first measure of it.
Sources
- Congo seizes copper, cobalt in illegal mining crackdown
- DRC launches probe into illegal mining following massive copper and cobalt seizures
- DRC launches probe into illegal mining following massive copper and cobalt seizures
- Alleged mining fraud in two Congolese provinces: the prosecutor orders investigations to be launched – ACP
- DRC’s EGC Says It Has Purchased Around 100 Truckloads of Copper-Cobalt Ore Since Musompo Reopened – Shanghai Metals Market (SMM)
Photo: Julien Harneis from Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (CC BY-SA 2.0)
