RUBAYA: Nestled in the green hills of Masisi territory in Congo, the artisanal Rubaya mining site hums with the sound of generators, as hundreds of men labour by hand to extract coltan, a key mineral crucial for producing modern electronics and defence technology, and fiercely sought after worldwide.Rubaya lies in the heart of eastern Congo, a mineral-rich part of the Central African nation which for decades has been ripped apart by violence from government forces and different armed groups, including the Rwanda-backedM23, whose recent resurgence has escalated the conflict, worsening an already acute humanitarian crisis. As the US spearheads peace talks between Congo and Rwanda, Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi has sought out a deal with the Trump administration, offering mineral access in return for American support in quelling the insurgency and boosting security. While details of the deal remain unclear, analysts said Rubaya might be one of the mining sites which fall under its scope. Eastern Congo has been in and out of crisis for decades. The conflict has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with more than 7 million people displaced, including 100,000 who fled their homes this year. The Rubaya mines have been at the centre of the fighting, changing hands between the Congolese government and rebel groups. For over a year now, it has been controlled by the M23 rebels, who earlier this year advanced and seized the strategic city of Goma and Bukavu in a major escalation of the conflict. Despite the country’s exceptional mineral wealth, over 70 per cent of Congolese live on less than USD 2.15 a day. Metals for ‘modern life and military preparedness’ For the men working in the Rubaya’s mines, who rely on the mining for their livelihoods, little has changed over decades of violence. One of them is Jean Baptiste Bigirimana, who has worked in the mines for seven years. “I earn USD 40 a month, but that’s not enough,” he said. “Children need clothes, education and food. When I divide up the money to see how I will take care of my children, I realise it’s not enough,” he said, adding that he doesn’t know where the minerals he mines go once they leave Rubaya. The mines produce coltan – short for columbite-tantalite – an ore from which the metals tantalum and niobium are extracted. Both are considered critical raw materials by the United States, the European Union, China and Japan. Tantalum is used in mobile phones, computers and automotive electronics, as well as in aircraft engines, missile components and GPS systems. Niobium is used in pipelines, rockets and jet engines. Congo produced about 40 per cent of the world’s coltan in 2023, according to the US Geological Survey, with Australia, Canada and Brazil being other major suppliers. The National Energy Emergency executive order, issued by Trump, highlighted the significance of critical minerals – including tantalum and niobium, and called for securing US access to ensure both “modern life and military preparedness.”
A “murky” global supply chain
Since seizing Rubaya in April of last year, the M23 has imposed income on the regular trade and transportation of 120 kilograms of coltan, generating at least USD 800,000 a month, according to a UN statement. According to UN authorities, the coltan is finally exported to Rwanda. However, researchers claimed that the material was sold to Rwanda yet before M23 took control of the plant, with the only difference being that it was done through Congolese brokers. According to experts, it’s difficult to track the origin of coltan in European nations. Guillaume de Brier, a researcher in natural resources at the Antwerp-based Global Peace Information Service, said,” The global coltan supply chain is very murky. Coltan is imported from eastern DRC by traders, mainly Syrian or Chinese, who will then sell it to Rwandan exporters. Finally, after being refined into titanium and niobium, manufacturers will send it to the UAE or China where it will be sold as metals from the UAE or China. The M23 has recently held control of Rubaya for a while, and the UN claimed that the team was facilitating the trafficking of these nutrients to Rwanda even prior to the acquisition of Goma. Since M23 took command of the plant, recognized exports of coltan have doubled in Rwanda, according to official statistics. The Wazalendo, a military allied with the African troops, was occasionally in charge of the mine. Alexis Twagira expressed concern that some aspects of M23 have improved. ” I’ve worked in this me for 13 years, and I’ve worked for the Wazalendo,” he said. They would abuse us while they were here, occasionally extorting our vitamins and demanding money,” he said. The UN has accused both the M23 separatists and the Rwandan army of human rights violations.
We didn’t continue this way.
Cobalt, a material used to create lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and other products, is the world’s top producer of it, but US exposure is constrained by Chinese companies ‘ command of 80 % of its African production. Platinum is also produced in Congo. Two US corporations recently opened their doors to output in the area. A US company named Nathan Trotter has a letter of intent with Rwandan-based Trinity Metals, the owner of Rwanda’s largest iron plant. Additionally, billionaire Bill Gates ‘ support, KoBold Metals, which brokered a package to purchase Australia’s AVZ Minerals ‘ involvement in Congo’s Manono lithium reserves. Experts warn that if a vitamins bargain was to be implemented in eastern Congo, there will be many obstacles, particularly given that US investors have largely abandoned the country in the last 20 years. In a recent report, Chatham House, a research institute, stated that” to turn a title announcement into a green progress will require resolving strong skepticism between Rwanda and the DRC.” A package will also need to take into account issues of intricate local political issues like property access and personality, wider security concerns in a region that house many non-state armed groups, and issues of asset scarcity. US companies may have to deal with both security issues and a severe lack of infrastructure if the offer were to include Rubaya, where all mine is now done individually. ” With Coltan, you’re dealing with hundreds of thousands of workers, and not just M23, but also other so-called auto-defence armed groups and individuals who rely on mine for survival,” de Brier from the Global Peace Information Service said. You must create everything, and you must start from scratch. You’ll even have to construct the highways. Regardless of who controls the mines, trader Bahati Moise wants the miners ‘ workers to eventually get valued just as much as the tools themselves. He said,” The entire country, the entire world, knows that phones are made from the coltan mined here,” but consider the life we lead. ” We didn’t remain like this,” the statement read.
