...up against. TTX operates in a country that is losing its grip on stability. The government wants to get taxes from mining companies, but they can't create enough security for those who are trying to exploit this mineral wealth. Everyone wants it and uses violence to keep it. It's a lawless and corrupt place. TTX will end up like AVZ - China is the favoured partner.
Eastern DRC has long been overrun by more than 120 armed groupsseeking a share of the region’s gold and other resources while committing massacres . The result is one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises , with more than 7 million people displaced, many beyond the reach of aid.
The most active rebel group in the region is the M23, which rose to prominence more than a decade ago when its fighters seized Goma ,the largest city in eastern DRC on the border with Rwanda . It takes its name from a peace deal reached on March 23, 2009, which it accuses the Congolese government of failing to implement.
Separately, Governor Jean-Jacques Purusi Sadiki of South Kivuprovince in eastern DRC on Thursday lifted the suspension of all mining activities, nearly a month after announcing the ban to "restore order" in the mineral-rich region.
The lifting of the ban follows meetings with mining companies and a directive to them to file tax returns and sign a pledge of transparency in the mining sector, according to a statement from the governor's office.
Many Chinese companies mine gold and other minerals in eastern DRC, where attacks on quarries and mining cooperatives are common. Last month, a militia attacked a gold mine in Ituri province, killing six Chinese miners and two Congolese soldiers.