By:Monitor

A US company and a close ally of President Donald Trump is reportedly in talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo to transform a notorious source of conflict minerals into a pillar of US-backed peace plans for the region, Financial Times reports. Gentry Beach, the chair of investment firm America First Global and former finance co-chair of Mr Trump’s campaign in 2016, is part of a consortium negotiating for rights to the Rubaya coltan mine, said Congolese officials and people familiar with the matter. The Rubaya mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a key site for coltan mining, a mineral crucial for electronics and defence technology. Located in Masisi Territory, North Kivu, it is part of a series of mining sites near the town of Rubaya.

The area has been under the control of the M23 rebel group since April 2024, and the mines are a significant source of funding for the group. According to Financial Times, the mine has been at the centre of the trade in smuggled coltan used in the financing of one of Africa’s longest-running and deadliest wars. DRC has experienced decades of conflict over its mineral resources, with the world powers all scrambling to get a slice of the mineral wealth. Regionally, the neighbouring countries have been accused by DRC for fuelling conflict in the vast African Community member state by sponsoring proxies in the country. DRC has in the past accused both Uganda and Rwanda of backing the M23 rebel outfits that have since taken up swaths of towns in eastern DRC.

Last week, DRC and Rwanda signed a US-brokered peace, ending months of a standoff between the two neighbouring countries. As part of the deal, American businesses are eyeing a slice of the mineral wealth, which for some time has been dominated by Chinese and Russian companies. Rubaya, which produces about half of DR Congo’s coltan, was captured in January by Rwandan-backed M23 rebels who have since overseen and taxed its output. Geologists consider the mine to be one of the most commercially promising sources for the tantalum and niobium used in the electronics industry. The Financial Times, quoting insiders, says Rubaya was one of several assets that President Felix Tshisekedi touted when he first approached Washington in February offering mining rights in return for help in ending a rebellion in the country’s east, Congolese officials said.

Sources say Washington and Kinshasa are optimistic that any deals that succeeds will be a big win for America that is seeking to reverse Chinese dominance in what is Africa’s richest store of minerals, which accounts for about 70 percent of the world’s cobalt, as well as some of the continent’s largest reserves of gold, coltan and diamonds. “When the US stepped in, they wanted to frame their approach to a peace settlement differently than in the past,” Financial Times quoted one regional participant in the plans, on condition of anonymity. Financial Times says Beach, a former hedge fund manager and long-standing college friend of President Trump’s son Donald Jr, has experience in DR Congo dating back to a previous 2004 mining venture.

Beach was also reportedly involved in ventures in the DR Congo with the late Congo-born basketball legend Dikembe Mutombo. The news outlet says although Donald Jr and Beach are old college friends, the president’s son has no involvement in Beach’s business ventures, according to a person close to Donald Jr. Financial Times said Mercuria and The White House did not respond to a request for comment.