The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has launched judicial investigations into suspected mining fraud, unauthorized extraction and mineral smuggling after authorities seized more than 500 trucks and thousands of metric tons of copper and cobalt in its southeastern mining belt.
DRC Justice Minister Guillaume Ngefa Atondoko Andali ordered the probes in Lualaba and Haut-Katanga provinces following a government enforcement operation, according to Mining.com.
A commission made up of police, military personnel, military magistrates and mines ministry experts carried out the seizures at several sites, notably Menda in Lualaba province.
The government said the operation targeted equipment allegedly used for illegal mining, including more than 500 vehicles and pieces of machinery.
The Menda concession is held by Boss Mining, a subsidiary of Luxembourg-based Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), near Kolwezi. Authorities said foreign nationals working with Congolese citizens had used the seized equipment for unauthorized activity. Over 60 foreign nationals were detained at the site in a separate operation.
Congo is the world’s largest cobalt producer and second-largest copper producer, making enforcement in the copper belt strategically important for global battery and industrial-metal supply chains. The government has struggled to contain illegal and artisanal mining, which has expanded amid high metal prices and increasingly encroached on licensed industrial concessions.
DRC Mines Minister Louis Kabamba Watum last week suspended the head of SAEMAPE, the state artisanal-mining agency, 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 around Kolwezi. The arrests underscore the political sensitivity of enforcement in a sector where Chinese companies, including CMOC and Zijin Mining, account for a substantial share of national copper and cobalt output.
