DR Congo investigates mining fraud after 500 seizures
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Beto
DR Congo’s Justice Minister, Guillaume Ngefa Atondoko Andali, has ordered investigations into alleged mining fraud in Lualaba and Haut-Katanga. An inter-agency mission seized more than 500 trucks and several thousand tonnes of copper and cobalt there, according to a ministry statement published on 2 November.
DR Congo’s Minister of State for Justice, Guillaume Ngefa Atondoko Andali, has ordered investigations into alleged mining fraud in the provinces of Lualaba and Haut-Katanga. A mission involving police officers, soldiers, military magistrates and experts from the Ministry of Mines seized more than 500 trucks and pieces of equipment, as well as several thousand tonnes of copper and cobalt, according to statement No. 0039 from the minister’s office, dated 2 November 2026 and reported by Beto.
The investigations are to determine the facts and any criminal responsibility for mining fraud, illegal exploitation of mineral resources and mining smuggling. The seizures took place notably at the Menda site, according to the Ministry of Justice.
The value of the metals will depend on their distribution between copper and cobalt. At prices recorded by the World Bank in September 2026, 1,000 tonnes of copper were worth approximately $14.5 million, compared with nearly $55 million for the same quantity of cobalt, according to Beto.
The investigation follows the suspension of the head of SAEMAPE, the Congolese agency responsible for supervising artisanal mining, announced on 27 October over illegal mining activities on concessions.
