Announced on 25 July during the signature of a memorandum of understanding with the mining land registry, US firm KoBold Metals’ project to scan the Congolese geological archives risks coming up against a significant obstacle.
Most of them are kept at AfricaMuseum, in Tervuren, in the suburbs of Brussels. The museum holds a large collection dating for the most part from the colonial era.
While the museum has worked with the Service Géologique National du Congo (SGN-C, geological department part of the mining ministry) for a long time, it does not work in partnership with private companies. This position has been confirmed with the Congolese authorities in recent weeks, as well as with representatives of KoBold Metals.
The US firm, backed by billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos and already eyeing Manono (Tanganyika province) lithium, is looking to use the data to locate large, as-yet undiscovered deposits that it could profit from.
Above all, KoBold Metals’ project positions itself alongside that initiated by AfricaMuseum to scan its archives. For research purposes, it draws on artificial intelligence, as does the KoBold Metals project.
Under development for several years, the project may receive a boost in the coming months thanks to European Union support. A partnership is currently being set up with the
European Commission.
For its part, the Congolese government has made known its desire to repatriate these geological archives as quickly as possible, as stated by Mining Minister Kizito Pakabomba at the United States-Africa business summit that took place in Luanda in June.
The Belgian authorities have also stated their willingness to share their archives in “a responsible fashion and at the request of the Congolese government”, a position likely to delay, or limit, KoBold Metals’ access.
- Comment RM*: During the negotiations between DR Congo (DRC) and Belgium a new relationship, at the surface talks were about the transfer of lost objects. At a deeper level, DRC was much more after archives with information about its mineral resources. At the time, the Belgian government and the AfricaMuseum did not give in to DRC’s wishes. They even did not provide copies.
