https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
The Trump administration obtained help from Rwanda to secure a rebel retreat and allow Toronto-listed Alphamin Resources Corp. to reopen a shuttered tin mine in eastern Congo, a U.S. official says.
Massad Boulos, senior Africa adviser to President Donald Trump, said the Rwandan move was a “good faith” gesture in response to U.S. concerns about private mining investments, which he relayed in his eight-day trip to Africa this month.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Mali’s military junta has closed Barrick Gold Corp.’s national office and threatened to seize control of one of its biggest gold mines in a further escalation of a protracted tax dispute, the Toronto-based company says.
Barrick says it negotiated an agreement with the Malian regime in February to resolve the dispute, but the deal has been blocked by a small group of individuals for “personal or political reasons.” The company’s long-term future in the West African country is now at risk, it said.
(Reuters) – Prominent Trump supporter Erik Prince has agreed to help Democratic Republic of Congo secure and tax its vast mineral wealth, according to two sources close to the private security executive, a Congolese government official and two diplomats.
The agreement, aimed at reaping more revenue from an industry marred by smuggling and corruption, was reached before Rwanda-backed M23 rebels launched a major offensive in January that has seen them seize eastern Congo’s two largest cities.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has some of the largest deposits on Earth. Its President wants to sell them—and win a war.
On a recent episode of Fox News’ “Special Report,” the host, Bret Baier, turned his attention to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country that doesn’t frequently make headlines in the United States. Using a map of the country, which is two-thirds the size of Western Europe, to educate his viewers, Baier began by outlining the regional conflicts in which the D.R.C. has been engaged, dating back to the refugee crises triggered by the Rwandan genocide of 1994.
He added that “Congo is considered the world’s richest country in terms of natural resources,” containing untapped supplies worth “an estimated twenty-four trillion dollars, with a ‘T.’ ” Those resources include gold, diamonds, and so-called critical metals, such as cobalt and lithium, which are used in rechargeable batteries.
https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/
Illegal mining activities in Nigeria are devastating the country’s economy, as well as fuelling violence. Strategic minerals mined in the country’s north-west region include granite, gypsum, kaolin, laterite, limestone, phosphate, potash, silica sand and gold.
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has estimated that the legal mining sector contributed N814.59 billion (US$527 million) in 15 years. Earnings were highest in 2021.
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A Trump administration official said Thursday the United States is in talks with conflict-plagued Congo on developing its mineral resources under a deal the Congolese president has said could help make his country safer.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s senior adviser for Africa, Massad Boulos, did not provide details of the potential deal following talks with Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi in Kinshasa, but he said it could involve “multibillion-dollar investments.”
In Niger, a local company has been granted a license to mine copper. Meanwhile, military governments in Mali and Burkina Faso aim to reduce dependence on foreign mining companies and diversify their economies.
Niger wants to boost its economy and expand its mining industry by mining copper in the Agadez region. The country granted a permit to national firm Compagnie Miniere de l’Air (Cominair SA). “Niger is continuing its programme of diversifying mining production” with a move that “marks its entry into the restricted circle of countries producing this strategic mineral,” according to a statement from Niger’s military government, which took power following a July 2023 coup.
Ulf Laessing, head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s Sahel regional program in neighboring Mali, said the concession is part of Niger’s strategy to reduce its reliance on foreign companies for mineral extraction.
When wife of the president of Sierra Leone – Mrs Fatima Bio joined a strike action by workers from Koidu Limited Mining Company (KLMC) in protest against the company, her detractors wasted no time in condemning her action, as attention seeking or misuse of her privileged position as the First Lady.
Irrespective of her position as First lady, those who know Fatima Bio believe that she did so as a citizen and daughter of the soil. As for those who don’t know, Fatima grew up on the foothills of the very hills that are being blasted daily by the mining company. Fatima grew up around the Koquima and Boroma environs of Sefadu.
In a soft, faltering voice, her large brown eyes staring absently ahead, Winfrida Besa repeats “A-B-C-D” over and over as she tries to sing the ABCs. With her thin, hollow face and slight frame, 7-year-old Winfrida looks much younger than she really is.
“Winfrida doesn’t go to school. She would just leave the classroom and wander off, and we worry she would get lost,” sighs her grandfather, Bobby Besa, 60. The little girl was born “normal,” he says, but soon she was exhibiting a constellation of disturbing symptoms that are familiar to residents of Kabwe, Zambia. The diagnosis came after blood testing at the local clinic: Lead poisoning.
As civil war rages in Sudan, a surge in gold production is helping finance and arm the warring factions. Most of the mining is done on a small scale by villagers who process the gold using mercury and cyanide, posing serious threats to their health and to the environment.
Amid Sudan’s brutal civil war, where famine threatens millions of displaced people, many have turned to small-scale gold mining, risking their lives by using toxic chemicals to extract the precious metal. But this pursuit of survival comes at a devastating cost to public health and the environment.
Across thousands of communities, mercury and cyanide used in the mining process are poisoning miners and their families, degrading farmland, and seeping into underground water reserves. After floods in 2022 and again last year, toxins even reached the Nile River, endangering the country’s most vital water source.
KoBold Metals Co., backed by billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, has told the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo it wants to develop one of the world’s biggest hard rock lithium deposits.
(Bloomberg) — KoBold Metals Co., backed by billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, has told the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo it wants to develop one of the world’s biggest hard rock lithium deposits.
It’s the first major offer by a large US mining company to invest in the central African nation amid early-stage conversations about a potential minerals and security partnership between the two countries.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
The European Union is imposing sanctions on Rwanda’s only gold refinery and its top mining executive for allegedly dealing in smuggled Congolese minerals, the latest sign of how the mining industry has become embroiled in one of Africa’s deadliest wars.
The EU is sanctioning the Gasabo Gold Refinery on accusations of illegally trading in trafficked gold from sites controlled by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel militia in eastern Congo, where Rwanda has reportedly sent thousands of troops to support the rebels.
The DRC appears to be angling for the US to deploy boots on the ground, in a bid to contain armed conflict.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is having “daily exchanges” with the United States government with the aim of securing a minerals-for-security deal, Congolese officials have told the media.
The move comes amid escalating violence in the East African country. The rebel M23 armed group has seized territory in areas rich in gold and coltan, an important mineral used in the manufacturing of electronic gadgets. At least 7,000 people have been killed since January, according to the DRC government. Thousands more have been displaced.
Botswana, the world’s largest diamond producer, is betting that selling big gems to rich young Americans will ease its economic woe and it is trying to catch their eye via Instagram and TikTok.
That gamble saw it dip a toe into the world of luxury advertising last week, wining and dining social media influencers at a Michelin star restaurant in New York’s Greenwich Village to pitch affluent 20- and 30-somethings on natural rocks over lab-grown rivals.
Dr M’zée Fula Ngenge is Chairman of African Diamond Council.
Confronting its Limitations, Failures and the Broken Promise of a ‘Year of Delivery’
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) is beset by a confluence of structural, operational, and ethical deficiencies that collectively undermine its legitimacy, efficacy, and relevance within the global diamond industry.
These challenges are not merely incidental, but are deeply entrenched in the Kimberley Process’ (KP) institutional framework, rendering it ill-equipped to address the evolving demands of ethical sourcing, transparency and accountability.
