民主共和国官员扣押了数千吨铜和钴，促使司法部长下令对关于普遍存在非法采矿的指控展开调查。
Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo seized thousands of tons of copper and cobalt, prompting the justice minister to order an investigation into allegations of widespread illegal mining.
司法部周一在一份发布的声明中表示，此次没收是在一个由警察、军队和矿业部官员组成的联合工作组走访了盛产铜的东南部卢阿拉巴省和上加丹加省之后进行的。
该部表示：“这些行动导致扣押了500多辆卡车及其他车辆和机械，以及数千吨铜和钴。”
The confiscations came after a commission of officials from the police, military and mines ministry visited copper-rich southeastern Lualaba and Haut-Katanga provinces, the justice ministry said in a statement Monday posted on“These operations have resulted in the seizure of more than 500 trucks and other vehicles and machinery, as well as several thousand tons of copper and cobalt,” the ministry said.
司法部长纪尧姆·恩格法·阿通多科·安达利下令对工作组的调查结果展开调查，该部称，这些调查结果可能揭露了“矿业欺诈、非法开采矿产资源以及矿产走私”。
Justice Minister Guillaume Ngefa Atondoko Andali ordered an investigation into the commission’s findings, which may have uncovered “mining fraud, illegal exploitation of mineral resources and mineral smuggling,” the ministry said.
刚果是全球最大的电池金属钴来源国和第二大铜生产国。该国一直在努力防止非法矿工（通常受到刚果安全部队的保护）侵入嘉能可公司和洛阳钼业集团有限公司等跨国公司持有的庞大特许矿区。
Congo is the world’s largest source of battery metal cobalt and the second-biggest copper producer. It has struggled to prevent incursions by illegal miners — often protected by Congolese security forces — onto sprawling concessions held by international companies including Glencore Plc and CMOC Group Ltd.
司法部表示，扣押行动发生在两省的几个地点，特别是卢阿拉巴省的门达。
The justice ministry said the seizures took place at several locations in the two provinces, notably at Menda in Lualaba.
欧亚资源集团在该地区拥有采矿权，该公司近几个月来对其特许矿区（包括该公司的旗舰项目梅塔尔科尔运营项目）上的非法采矿活动表达了越来越多的不满。欧亚资源集团在正常办公时间之外未立即回复寻求置评的信息。
Eurasian Resources Group has licenses in that area, and the company has been increasingly vocal in recent months about illicit mining on its concessions including the firm’s flagship Metalkol operation. ERG didn’t immediately respond to messages requesting comment outside normal business hours.
上周，联合国旗下的《霍加皮电台》报道称，在存在非法采矿和违反移民规定指控的背景下，有60多名外国公民在门达被扣留。《霍加皮电台》援引未具名的当地消息人士的话说，行动中还有刚果平民和军事人员被捕。
Last week, the United Nations’ Radio Okapi reported that more than 60 foreign nationals had been detained at Menda amid allegations of illegal mining and immigration violations. Congolese civilians and military personnel were also arrested in the operation, Radio Okapi said, citing unnamed local sources.
在承诺对刚果铜矿带的非法采矿展开调查之前，刚果在最近几周暂停了一名主要矿业监管官员的职务，并扣押了数百名中国矿工。
The promised investigation into illegal mining in Congo’s copper belt follows the suspension of a key mining regulator, and the detention of hundreds of Chinese miners, in recent weeks.
洛阳钼业和紫金矿业集团股份有限公司等中国企业占了这个中部非洲国家铜和钴产量的绝大部分。一些来自中国的较小型运营商经营着加工厂，但没有自己的矿山，这意味着它们在公开市场上采购矿石。
Chinese companies such as CMOC and Zijin Mining Group Co. account for most copper and cobalt output in the central African country. Some smaller operators from China run processing plants but don’t have their own mines, meaning they source ore on the open market.