Congo Says Many Dead After Landslide at Rebel-Held Tantalum Mine

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(Bloomberg) — The Democratic Republic of Congo’s mines ministry said a landslide in a major tantalum mining area occupied by rebels left many dead on Tuesday.

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Bloomberg could not immediately confirm the government’s figures and officials for the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group, which controls the region, did not answer calls, messages and emails requesting comment.

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The ministry said in a statement that more than 200 people died, including about 70 children, after heavy rains triggered a collapse of “extreme seriousness” near the eastern Congolese town of Rubaya on March 3. The area hosts one of the world’s richest deposits of tantalum-bearing coltan ore which is used in high-tech industries.

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A collapse at a separate mine around Rubaya in January killed hundreds, according to the rebels and the government. 

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Congo’s government “denounces with the greatest firmness the precarious mining conditions imposed on the civilian population in these areas out of the control of the state,” the ministry said. There was no information about the impact on mining operations in the region. 

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Coltan – which contains both tantalum and niobium – is mainly extracted in Congo using rudimentary methods and often in dangerous conditions by so-called artisanal miners. Several companies have aspired to mechanize mining operations in the region, especially at Rubaya, but decades of conflict and instability have hampered those efforts.

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Tantalum plays a crucial role in industries including electronics, aerospace and defense. Congo accounted for 52% of global mined production of the metal last year, while neighboring Rwanda was the No. 2 supplier with a 16% share, estimates the US Geological Survey.

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Earlier this week, the US Treasury Department sanctioned Rwanda’s army and four of its top officials for backing the M23 movement which occupies a large swath of eastern Congo.

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“In exchange for its support for M23, Rwanda has gained access to mineral-rich areas of eastern DRC that contribute to the financing of M23’s armed rebellion,” according to a March 2 statement from the US Treasury. The M23 has run the Rubaya mine sites since April 2024.

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The Rwandan government slammed the US sanctions, calling the measures “unjust” and “one-sided.”

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President Donald Trump’s administration brokered a peace agreement between Rwanda and Congo in December, hoping to bring an end to deadly violence that has persisted for almost 30 years. Congo and the US also signed a separate minerals partnership designed to increase US investments in the central African nation’s abundant reserves of metals including copper, cobalt, lithium and tantalum.

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Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. and US-backed investment company TechMet Ltd. have discussed developing the Rubaya site if the peace deal holds, Bloomberg reported in November.

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