Belgium is set to open a vast archive of colonial-era mining records from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a move expected to provide new insights into one of the world’s richest mineral regions amid growing global competition for critical minerals.
The collection, housed at the Royal Museum for Central Africa, also known as the AfricaMuseum, in Tervuren near Brussels, contains nearly 500 metres of geological records compiled during Belgium’s colonial rule of Congo before independence in 1960.
The archive includes maps, survey reports, field notebooks and mining company documents detailing decades of exploration work across the vast Central African nation.
Museum officials plan to digitise the records and make them publicly accessible over the next five years, potentially unlocking valuable information about untapped deposits of cobalt, copper, lithium and other strategic minerals.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is estimated to hold mineral resources worth about $24 trillion and remains a key supplier of materials used in electric vehicle batteries, renewable energy technologies and advanced electronics.
According to geologist François Kervyn, who is leading the digitisation project at the AfricaMuseum, the records contain a wealth of information gathered by generations of geologists working in difficult conditions.
“The content of the documents is absolutely incredible,” Kervyn told reporters. “The geologists at the time were walking and looking at rocks and drawing maps. It is a huge amount of knowledge.”
Many of the documents were produced by Belgian mining companies and government agencies that conducted extensive geological surveys across Congo during the colonial period. Experts say the records could help identify areas with high mineral potential that have received little modern exploration.
The initiative comes as major powers, including the United States, China and European countries, intensify efforts to secure supplies of critical minerals needed for the global energy transition. Access to geological data is increasingly viewed as a strategic advantage in the race to discover and develop new mineral deposits.
Congolese authorities have welcomed the project, viewing it as an opportunity to strengthen the country’s control over its mineral wealth and improve access to geological information.
“Geological information is a strategic resource,” Congolese Mines Minister Kizito Pakabomba said during discussions on the archive project. “This initiative contributes to our geoscientific sovereignty and to better management of our natural resources.”
Belgium and the DRC have agreed to develop a roadmap for the digitisation and sharing of the records, alongside the establishment of a joint task force to oversee the process.
The archive has already attracted interest from private companies. Last year, U.S.-based mining technology company KoBold Metals reportedly offered to digitise the collection. However, the museum declined the proposal, arguing that exclusive access to the records should not be granted to a private entity.
“We cannot give privileged access to one company,” Kervyn said. “These archives are part of a shared heritage and should be accessible to everyone.”
Museum officials said the digitisation project will instead be funded through European support and carried out by independent contractors.
As work begins to make the records publicly available, researchers and industry experts believe the archive could play a significant role in future mineral discoveries while also reopening discussions about colonial-era resource extraction and ownership.
For the DRC, the release of the documents represents more than a historical exercise. It offers a chance to better understand and potentially benefit from geological knowledge gathered during a colonial era that helped shape the country’s mining industry and continues to influence the global supply of critical minerals today.
