Congolese mining firm rebuffs US accusations amid sanctions

Image credit: aboodi vesakaran on Pexels

The US Treasury Department announced sanctions against the Cooperative des Artisanaux Miniers du Congo (CDMC) over what it called the illicit sale of critical minerals smuggled from the mineral-rich region of Rubaya.

The US also sanctioned the Coalition des Patriotes Resistants Congolais-Forces de Frappe (PARECO-FF) — an armed group aligned with Congo's military, which Washington said controlled mining sites in Rubaya from 2022 to 2024 — and two Hong Kong-based exporters.

CDMC said control of its sites by armed groups meant the company could not operate legally.

"We are not the perpetrators — but the primary victims — of the armed conflict and pillage that have destabilised this region," CDMC said in a statement received by Reuters.

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"The presence and taxation of mining activity by armed groups such as PARECO-FF and, more recently, the M23 rebels have prevented CDMC from exercising lawful control over its concession," it said.

The sanctions are the latest measures taken by the administration of US President Donald Trump to try to bring peace to eastern Congo, where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels staged a lightning advance earlier this year, spurring violence that has killed thousands of people.

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Rubaya, controlled by the M23 rebel group since April 2024, produces 15% of the world's coltan, which is processed into a heat-resistant metal called tantalum used in mobile phones and other electronics and prized by the aerospace and medical industries, among others.