Belgian museum and US firm in fight over Congo minerals data

Belgian museum and US firm in fight over Congo minerals data

Millions of handwritten, fragile and not yet fully inventoried documents are stored on nearly 500 meters of shelving at the AfricaMuseum in the Belgian town of Tervuren. They document how the mineral wealth of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was mapped and exploited by Belgium during the colonial era. Congo is pushing for the transfer and digitization of the archive to identify new deposits of vital minerals like cobalt and copper. KoBold Met…