Maliciously denounced in an imaginary fraud in Maniema by its competitors, the Lushoe company MMR was cleared by facts and official documents, including those of ITSCI, in Punia.

On August 12, 2025, the unidentified newspaper ” INFOS ROUGES” , in its Edition number 2087, published on its front page an article entitled “Mines: MMR company denounced for fraud involving 19 tons of ore in Punia in Maniema province” , thus falsely accusing the company Mining Mineral Resources SAS (MMR) of being involved in an incident that occurred in Maniema province on August 9, 2025, where a truck transporting 19 tons of cassiterite was intercepted and sealed in Punia by the Kindu prosecutor’s office and subsequently released.

The newspaper “INFOS ROUGE” in question is supposed to be based in Lubumbashi in Haut-Katanga but without a known address, the only contacts initiated directly and indirectly (through a JED representative in Lubumbashi, the Press-Club which is a crossroads of the Lubumbashi press and the UNPC and some publishers of the city’s newspapers) to exercise its legal right have been limited to telephone conversations and without success.

Taking seriously this very serious accusation which damages its reputation, MMR has made unsuccessful attempts for days to reach the editorial staff of this newspaper without a known fixed address in order to publish its “right of reply” as required by law in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in order to clarify this situation while reserving the right to demand reparations from all persons and organizations involved in this campaign which was cleverly orchestrated for undisclosed reasons. 

This is why the company decided to give its version of events and deny the accusations made against it in other media in order to clarify national and international opinion on this low-class cabal cleverly orchestrated by malicious and malevolent competitors, who know very well that their target MMR – which is based in Lubumbashi and operates legally in the provinces of Haut-Katanga, Haut-Lomami and Tanganyika, all part of the former Katanga province and has its cassiterite-to-tin processing plant on the Kipushi Road in the Annexe Commune – has not signed any agreement with any company for the purchase of minerals in the Maniema province and does not have any government authorization to do so and does not have any mining operations there.

Indeed, and according to the details contained in official documents consulted by some newsrooms in Lubumbashi and Kinshasa, it is certified and proven that the truck, transporting the cargo of minerals whose details are found in the aforementioned publication and which was intercepted in Punia by the services of the Kindu Prosecutor’s Office, was in fact transporting 19 tons of cassiterite minerals belonging to the company “Umoja Wetu”, as indicated by the documents relating to this batch issued by all state services as well as the “Log books” of the ITSCI, a copy of which is in our possession.

1. What had happened?

A truck transporting a 19-ton shipment of cassiterite was intercepted and seized in Punia on August 9, 2025, by the Kindu Prosecutor’s Office, based on a complaint filed by PKM (Punia Kasese Mining) against MMR. Miraculously, and somewhat maliciously, after verification of the accompanying documents, the truck was released following an official report establishing that the cargo actually belonged to “Umoja Wetu” – not MMR – and mining operations have continued unabated ever since. A release order from the Punia High Court Prosecutor’s Office was issued on August 11, 2025.

Contrary to allegations that MMR was neither operational nor present in the province in this incident, documents demonstrate that representatives of UMOJA WETU, accompanied by representatives of state services involved in artisanal mining (Mines Division, Saemape, and others), as well as ITSCI, appeared before the judicial authority in charge of the case to clarify matters. From this meeting, the shared conclusion was that the batch of ore transported by the seized truck belonged to UMOJA WETU, that it was produced legally, and that all duties and taxes had been paid to the State; and that only 1 ton of ore originated from the mining areas of PKM, a joint venture of SAKIMA, but whose artisanal mining operations are the responsibility of SAKIMA, a state-owned mining company, which receives royalties there under a contract with Maniema Province.

MMR, which is not involved in this incident, still does not understand why the seizure of this batch was made in its name and why PKM’s correspondence continues to illegally accuse it when it does not exist in this province. 

2. The protagonists of the incident 

According to the cross-checks and triangulation carried out by the MMR, it appears that this incident is the result of a conflict of interpretation of the texts which bind the companies SAKIMA and DOTT SERVICES LTD, in particular the Joint-venture contract which gave birth to their joint company PKM (Punia Kasese Mining) for industrial exploitation of minerals and not to carry out artisanal mining.

The company PKM has signed a memorandum of understanding with the general management of SAEMAPE on the supervision of artisanal mining in the concessions under its control. 

Based on this memorandum of understanding, the provincial governor signed a document giving PKM exclusive rights, requiring all actors in the chain—traders, cooperatives, and processing entities—to sign memoranda of understanding in order to pay it royalties on minerals from its mining titles.

However, it is the public company SAKIMA, partner of DOTT SERVICES LTD in PKM and initial holder of the mining titles which has a memorandum of understanding with the province of Maniema on the artisanal production from its titles, which already receives royalties and rightly contests this right to PKM.

A letter from SAKIMA dated 13/08/2025, addressed to PKM and with copies to the Governor of Maniema province as well as to the Ministers of Portfolio and Mines, stipulates the following in one of its paragraphs:

“For SAKIMA SA, the collection of artisanal production, which has been consuming all your energy for some time now, is undeniably far removed from the purpose of the joint venture agreement concluded between it and the company “DOTT SERVICES LTD” in 2020, which is to develop an industrial mining project in the sites covered by the mining permits granted to you.”

According to the available documents, it should be noted that SAKIMA did indeed receive royalties on this 19-tonne shipment, as evidenced by the documents accompanying it. This rules out any fraud by UMOJA WETU.

Therefore, the protagonists identified in this incident are:

• The PKM (Punia Kasese Mining) Company, created following a joint venture contract between SAKIMA and DOTT SERVICES LTD in 2020 and which currently holds the PE brought by SAKIMA for the development of an industrial mining project in the Territory of Punia, Maniema Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo;
• SAKIMA: The original holder of the permits transferred to PKM, which controls artisanal mining in all its aspects and collects royalties from it. 
• The Punia High Court Prosecutor’s Office.

It is thus clearly established that the company MMR is not a party to the conflict, cannot be because it is not present in the province as demonstrated by the judicial decision to lift the seizure in favour of UMOJA WETU.

3. About the private company “UMOJA WETU”

UMOJA-WETU SARL is a Category B Processing Entity, approved by Ministerial Decree No. 00167/CAB.MIN/MENES/01/2024 of May 2, 2022, granting UMOJA-WETU SARL the status of Category B Processing Entity in the Province of Maniema. It was authorized to process mineral substances and their accompanying materials (3TG ores and Monazites) in the Province of Maniema and to export the processed marketable products for a period of four (4) years, renewable for the same duration, from the date of signature of this Decree, in accordance with Article 1 of said Decree.  

This company has contracts with mining companies and cooperatives, including Terra Cara Mining Company, Mima Mining Company, and SAKIMA. These contracts allow it to source minerals from the 3TG (Three Triangular Groups), in accordance with Articles 2 and 3 of its Decree, and it pays all its partners their royalty rights as stipulated in each marketing contract. 

The company pays the export fees due to the relevant state services, it also contributes to the development of the province of Maniema through the conventional tax which varies from $100,000 (one hundred thousand US dollars) to $150,000 (one hundred fifty thousand US dollars) per month. 

4.  MMR, streamlining the supply chain and promoting the value of 3T in the DRC

It is widely known among all specialists in the DRC’s tin mining sector (the 3T sector), those at ITSCI, the OECD, and Western networks that the mining company MMR was a leading advocate worldwide, with the support of renowned figures and organizations such as the American NGO PACT, for a responsible and transparent supply chain. MMR was also deeply involved in the fight against fraud in all its forms and at all levels. It was also thanks to MMR’s efforts and advocacy that American legislators passed the Dodd -Frank Act to combat organized crime and conflict minerals in coltan, cassiterite, tungsten, and gold.

To date, Mining Mineral Resources SAS reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the highest standards of integrity, responsibility, and accountability in all aspects of its operations. “Guided by our Code of Conduct, our Ethics Policy, and the principles set forth in the OECD Due Diligence Guidance, as further defined in the EU’s Enhanced Due Diligence Framework,” insists the management of this Lubumbashi-based company. 

This is how it invested in its cassiterite-to-tin processing plant in Lubumbashi, DRC, to add value to the country’s minerals obtained in the Katanga provinces, not in Maniema or Kivu, while several of its competitors based in the eastern provinces of the country excel in exporting minerals without added value.

By Ben Nkaya and the Editorial Staff.