Africa

Mercuria Sizes Up Congo Coltan Mine as Trump Pursues Peace Deal

Miners at work at a coltan mining quarry in Rubaya, Democratic Republic of Congo.Photographer: Moses Sawasawa/AP Photo

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By William Clowes and Michael J Kavanagh

November 10, 2025 at 1:13 PM UTC

Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. has held discussions with a US-backed investment company about developing a prized tantalum project in a Congolese war zone, if the Trump administration can broker a peace deal.

The Geneva-based trading house and TechMet Ltd. are considering a venture to modernize mining and processing at one of the world’s richest deposits of tantalum-bearing coltan ore, near the eastern Congolese town of Rubaya, according to people familiar with the matter.