Belgium to return colonial-era geological records to boost DR Congo’s mining sector

Belgium has agreed to return and digitise thousands of colonial-era geological records from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in a move aimed at strengthening the country’s mining sector and improving its management of critical mineral resources.

The archive, housed at the AfricaMuseum in Tervuren near Brussels, contains nearly 500 metres of geological maps, mining reports, survey records and field notes compiled during Belgium’s colonial administration before Congo gained independence in 1960.

Belgian and Congolese officials are developing a joint roadmap to digitise and repatriate the records, which are expected to help the DRC identify unexplored mineral deposits, attract investment and enhance what authorities describe as the country’s “geoscientific sovereignty.”

The records document some of the world’s richest mineral belts, including deposits of copper, gold, cobalt, lithium and coltan—minerals that are increasingly critical to electric vehicles, renewable energy technologies and advanced manufacturing.

According to the U.S. International Trade Administration, the DRC’s largely untapped mineral resources are valued at an estimated US$24 trillion, making the country central to the global race for critical minerals.

The initiative comes as the DRC seeks greater control over its mining industry, including tighter regulation of cobalt exports, while the United States, China and European countries compete to secure reliable supplies of minerals essential to the global energy transition.

Congolese officials say access to the historical geological data will accelerate mineral exploration, strengthen the country’s negotiating position with investors and support the long-term development of its mining sector.