The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been experiencing a surge in illegal, semi-industrial gold mining in recent years. Chinese nationals and their Congolese partners have led this gold rush, with the protection of Congolese army and police officers. These “low-tech, artisanal mines” - as the one described in the article - are been presented as operations conducted by ‘artisanal mining cooperatives’ -entities comprised solely of Congolese nationals.

However, as the Durch NGO Pax has found last year, these ‘cooperatives’ were used as fronts for large-scale, semi-industrial mining operations, with the involvement on site of Chinese nationals:

Illustrating this point, an official in Watsa territory told PAX: ‘The cooperatives are just labels. The Chinese nationals are the ones who do everything’ …

In a report published in October 2025, it is said that

For two decades, China’s state-owned mining companies have held a near-monopoly over mining in the DRC. That dominance has allowed Chinese companies to operate with near impunity as they drive corruption, displace communities, and promote illicit mining, according to analyst Ashley Nunes.

“Meanwhile, local populations struggle to maintain access to a stable income and basic services,” Nunes wrote recently for New Lines Institute … Chinese companies have flouted laws designed to keep machinery out of areas specifically reserved for artisanal mining. They have also conducted mining operations in areas where it is banned entirely, according to Pax investigators. Similar illegal Chinese mining operations are in place in Ituri, South Kivu and Tshopo provinces. In those areas, some mining companies are working within the law, but many are not.