Coltan: Is smartphone mineral supply at risk after capture of key DR Congo town?

By Anadolu staff

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the M23 rebel group recently captured Rubaya, a small town at the heart of mining coltan, a coveted mineral used in manufacturing mobile phones and laptops.

DR Congo is the world’s second-largest producer of coltan, with most of it coming from mines around Rubaya in the country’s volatile eastern part.

Coltan was also among the minerals named in a letter from the DR Congo government to Apple, threatening legal action and questioning whether the tech giant is aware of “blood minerals” being part of its supplies.

The M23 rebels seized Rubaya in late-April, following days of clashes with government troops in the district of Masisi in North Kivu province, which also has significant reserves of various other precious minerals.

For years, the region’s mineral wealth has made it a battleground – and Rubaya was always a strategic objective for both sides.

“Rubaya is known to have reserves of huge quantities of minerals, and over the past decade, different groups and government forces have been fighting for control of the region,” Teddy Kaberuka, a Rwandan economic analyst told Anadolu.

“Beyond that, Rubaya is like any other region for the rebel groups.”

M23 is one of the over 100 groups fighting for control of DR Congo’s mineral-rich areas, where relentless violence has displaced about 7 million people over the years.

Since the group resurfaced in late 2021, it has scored a series of battlefield victories, capturing several strategic towns on the outskirts of Goma, the capital of North Kivu.

- Fighting for coltan?

DR Congo accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels, an accusation Kigali denies. Diplomatic tensions, however, persist between the two nations.

The capture of Rubaya occurred on the day French President Emmanuel Macron called on Rwanda to “halt its support” for M23, right after holding talks with DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi in Paris.

In a statement about the capture of the town, another Congolese politician Martin Fayulu, a former presidential candidate, said “Rwandan army auxiliaries from the M23 now control the city of Rubaya, which means Rwanda has additional access to Congo’s coltan.”

These assertions have led to the M23 trying to defend itself from accusations of mineral exploitation, with a spokesperson saying it had seized Rubaya “to chase away our enemy, not for its wealth.”

In a statement last week, the group said clashes leading to the capture of Rubaya were “provoked by multiple attacks by a coalition of Congolese government forces through heavy artillery bombing and the advancement of its infantry into heavily populated areas.”

- Global supply at risk?

The capture of Rubaya has raised fears of disruptions in the global coltan supply chain.

Theogen Baramwika, a Congolese civil society activist based in Goma, said Rubaya is “a strategic prize” for the rebels because of its mineral deposits.

“We worry deeply that M23 will exploit the minerals and likely hamper the normal supply chain,” he told Anadolu.

However, Kaberuka argued that chances of an impact are slim, pointing out that the wider eastern part of DR Congo has been “a region of instability” for years but there have not been any major supply issues.

“This means there are so many other sources from where the supply is continuing consistently. North Kivu has a lot of coltan, so I don’t think the capture of Rubaya is a game changer. The entire region is contributing to the supply chain of coltan,” he said.

Spiraling violence in eastern DR Congo represents more of a threat, he said.

“The big challenge is war and insecurity, which may lead to a disruption in supply of coltan to the global market,” he added.