DR Congo to launch armed mining security force backed by US, UAE

The Democratic Republic of Congo will create a paramilitary unit to police its mines with funding from the US and United Arab Emirates, the country’s General Inspectorate of Mines said.

The agency will invest $100 million and deploy as many of 3,000 armed recruits by December, with a goal of 20,000 “mining guards” around the country by 2028, it said in an emailed statement on April 27, Bloomberg reports.

The force will secure production, ensure traceable transport of minerals, and replace “defense forces currently deployed in mining zones,” according to the statement.

Police currently patrol most operations, but military and presidential guard personnel are occasionally found at sites, often in breach of the country’s mining code. The new unit will eventually replace the police, the IGM told Bloomberg in a separate message.

Congo is the world’s second-biggest source of copper and largest producer of key battery mineral cobalt. While those two metals are largely mined at massive industrial projects, most of Congo’s mines are dug by hand by millions of artisanal miners.

The guards will begin work in the southeastern copper-and-cobalt-rich Katanga region, which also has large deposits of zinc, lithium, gold, tin ore and tantalum ore, the IGM said.

The agency declined to name the source of the US and Emirati funds, or if it was government or private money.

Washington and Kinshasa signed a strategic economic partnership in December granting preferential access to mining and infrastructure projects to companies from the US and its allies.

Part of the agreement included commitments by Congo to improve its business climate and reduce corruption and insecurity in the mining industry.

By Sabina Mammadli