AfricaMuseum Refuses to Transfer Congo Geological Archives to US Mining Company Despite Political Pressure
By
hezag
Soft in all the wrong places. Take with a strong tea.
Summary
The AfricaMuseum in Tervuren, Belgium is refusing to hand over geological archive material on Congo to American mining company Kobold Metals, despite pressure from the Trump administration. The company, backed by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, wants to use AI to analyze the data to identify valuable mining locations for critical raw materials like cobalt and copper. The museum insists on digitizing the archives itself rather than allowing a private company to control the process, while the Congolese government had previously signed an agreement with Kobold Metals for digitization.
Key quotes
· 5 pulledThe AfricaMuseum in Tervuren (Flemish Brabant) is refusing to hand over geological archive material on Congo to an American mining company that wants to use the data to map valuable raw materials.
'We want to digitalise the archives ourselves and not leave it to a private company,' the museum says.
The mining company, which is partly owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and tech billionaire Bill Gates, wants to analyse this data using AI to identify new, suitable mining locations.
The Congolese soil is rich in critical raw materials such as cobalt, copper and coltan.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is increasing pressure through diplomatic channels.
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