Advancing anti-government fighters in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo forced the temporary closure of the world’s third most productive tin mine, its operator said in a statement received by AFP Friday.Alphamin Resources said it has made “the difficult decision to temporarily cease mining operations at the Company’s Bisie tin mine in Walikale District, North Kivu Province after insurgent militant groups have recently advanced westward in the direction of the mine’s location”, it said in a statement.”The safety of the Company’s employees and contractors remains its top priority and cannot be assured at the present time,” the US-owned company added.”All operational mining personnel are being evacuated from the mine site with only essential personnel to remain for the care, maintenance and security of the property.”Bisie is the third-biggest tin mine in the world in terms of production, with 17,300 tonnes extracted there in 2024 — around six percent of global output — according to the International Tin Association.According to the United States Geological Survey, the DRC produced 25,000 tonnes of tin ore in 2024, about 8.3 percent of the approximately 300,000 tonnes produced globally.Tin is mainly used to solder electronic components onto printed circuit boards and the boom in the electronics and renewable energy sectors is fuelling growing demand, according to analysts.In recent months, the M23 armed group has waged a lightning offensive in the mineral-rich eastern DRC, pushing the Congolese army out of much of North and South Kivu provinces and raising fears of a wider regional war.- Price surge -Alphamin said fighters had seized towns northwest of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu which M23 captured in late January.It said it would monitor events “with a view to moving personnel back to the mine site and resuming operations when it believes it can safely do so”.Following the announcement, the price of tin surged nearly 10 percent to over $36,000 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange commodities market, its highest level since August 2022.The DR Congo government has accused Rwanda of backing M23 in order to seize valuable mineral resources in the east.Rwanda denies providing the M23 with military support, but a UN experts’ report found Rwanda maintains around 4,000 troops in the DRC’s east to assist the armed group.On Tuesday, Angola said it would host talks in a bid to halt the fighting, giving a date of March 18 for the beginning of negotiations.DRC President Felix Tshisekedi has repeatedly refused to enter talks with the armed group, which he has called a “terrorist” organisation.For its part, the M23 said it was willing to have “direct talks” but called on Tshisekedi to “publicly and unambiguously express his commitment” to discussions.
