The U.S. company Minerals Mining Company (Miminco) has had its two operating permits in Kasai province revoked for failing to pay required surface fees. The information appears in a list of forfeiture orders issued by the Ministry and published by the Mining Cadastre (CAMI) on December 2, 2025. Three other companies also lost their mining titles for the same reason. The measure is part of the Congolese government’s effort to strengthen compliance in the mining sector.

Miminco is known for initiating the seizure of a Congo Airways Airbus A320 in Dublin in 2015 as part of a dispute with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The company accused the state of failing to honor a compensation agreement reached after arbitration.

The dispute stemmed from the occupation of Miminco’s diamond concessions in Kasai, first by members of the Presidential Special Division during the Zaire era, and later by the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL) under Laurent-Désiré Kabila. After proceedings before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the Congolese state agreed in a 2007 settlement to pay the company nearly 13 million dollars. Miminco was founded by Dr. Ilunga Jean Mukend, a Congolese-American physician.

According to CAMI’s register seen by Bankable, the revoked permits were granted on November 21, 2015, after the plane seizure incident. The concessions are located in the Kamonia mining zone in Kasai province. The two cancelled operating permits cover a total of 61 mining blocks.

Under the Mining Code, companies subject to forfeiture orders have 30 days from notification and publication to appeal the decision to the relevant authorities. If no appeal is filed, the forfeiture is entered in the CAMI register and published in the Official Journal, at which point it becomes final.

On September 12, Kasai province signed a memorandum of understanding with CAMI to improve oversight and collection of surface fees on mining concessions and boost provincial revenue. CAMI General Manager Popol Mabolia Yenga said the agreement includes technical and institutional support, data sharing between cadastral systems and training for provincial staff.

Timothée Manoke