A running record of what’s moving in the sector, searchable and filterable by topic. A starting set; it grows as the hub does.
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Heavy rains from late January 2026 caused repeated collapses at the M23-held Rubaya (Luwowo) coltan site in North Kivu, supplying over 15% of world tantalum. Death tolls topped 400 in the January event and 200+ in a 4 March collapse; Bellingcat verified at least four fatal landslides by satellite. Kinshasa and M23 dispute the counts.
Mongabay, Al Jazeera, Bellingcat
Mercuria announced its first transaction with Entreprise Generale du Cobalt on 9 February 2026 under the ARECOMS quota regime, later signing an MOU on a responsible artisanal-cobalt chain; Fastmarkets reported parallel EGC shipments to Trafigura.
Mercuria/PRNewswire, Fastmarkets
On 13 May 2026 EGC announced a protocol with EVelution Energy and Trafigura to route DRC artisanal cobalt through a planned Arizona processing facility, which the parties said could cover up to 40% of US cobalt demand.
Agence Ecofin, PRNewswire
Under the 96,600 t/yr ceiling, ARECOMS gave CMOC the largest share while artisanal monopoly EGC received 1,775 t for 2026, rising to 5,640 t in 2027, amid price recovery and site tension over enforcement.
Actualite.cd, Bankable, Mysteel
Human-rights defenders challenged the 4 December 2025 US-DRC Strategic Partnership before the Constitutional Court, arguing preferential US mineral access is unconstitutional and lacked transparency.
Oakland Institute
The investigation Who buys Rwanda's smuggled coltan? found ITSCI used to launder conflict coltan, with Rwandan exports up over 2.5x from 2021-2025. ITSCI rejected the findings on 2 May 2025 after suspending two Rwandan exporters.
Global Witness, ITSCI
The Responsible Minerals Initiative prolonged its non-recognition of ITSCI over unresolved risk-management questions amid the eastern-DRC conflict; ITSCI had withdrawn from Rubaya and Masisi after the M23 takeover.
MMTA, ITSCI
The UN Group of Experts report (S/2025/446) found over 150 tonnes of coltan laundered into Rwanda in 2024 and Ituri militias earning at least $140m from minerals, with Ituri gold inflating Uganda's gold exports.
UN S/2025/446, Reuters, Al Jazeera
On 15 November 2025 a makeshift bridge at the Kalando copper-cobalt site in Lualaba collapsed as diggers fled reported gunfire in heavy rain; SAEMAPE counted around 40 dead, other counts running to 70+.
Al Jazeera, CNN, IndustriALL
Effective 1 July 2026, large producers must sell 30% of local output to GoldBod as dore, paid in cedis, with refined bullion routed to Bank of Ghana reserves.
GBC Ghana Online
Recorded ASM gold exports rose from 63.6 t (2024) to 103 t (2025), over $10bn, with officials attributing ~39 t to formerly smuggled gold captured by licensed buyers; ~98% of GoldBod purchases came from ASM.
GBC Ghana, Citinewsroom
On 15 February 2025 an abandoned open pit at Bilali Koto collapsed on artisanal miners scavenging industrial leftovers; around 48 died, 49 of the victims women.
NBC News, Xinhua