Brussels: Belgium’s AfricaMuseum has refused a request from a US mining company seeking access to its vast geological archives on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), citing ethical concerns and the need to prioritise cooperation with Congolese authorities.

The museum, Belgium’s largest institution dedicated to Central Africa, houses millions of colonial-era artefacts and zoological specimens. It also preserves extensive archives from Belgian companies that operated in Congo during the 1960s and 1970s, including detailed geological maps.

With global competition intensifying over rare earths and critical minerals, the relevance of these records has surged. However, the museum has drawn a line against granting access to private commercial interests.

"We cannot allow a private company, which may have commercial interests, to get hold of an entire archive collection," AfricaMuseum director Bart Ouvry told AFP.

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"That would be against our ethics as a scientific institution," he said on Thursday.

The request came from KoBold Metals, a US start-up that uses artificial intelligence to identify mineral deposits, particularly lithium. Ouvry said the company approached the museum about six months ago, seeking access to a substantial body of data on the Congolese subsoil for digitisation purposes.

Belgium ruled Congo until its independence in 1960. Today, the DRC is among the world’s least-developed nations but possesses some of the planet’s richest mineral reserves, including copper, cobalt, coltan and lithium—key inputs for weapons systems, mobile devices and electric vehicles.

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According to Ouvry, the museum’s geological archive stretches to “half a kilometre” in length. The institution plans to digitise and make the records publicly accessible within four to five years through a partnership with the DRC’s national geological service, supported by European Union funding.

He stressed that decisions regarding the archives are not Belgium’s alone.

"We want to share these archives first with our Congolese partner, which is the national geological service, because ultimately, the question of mining exploration and economic development is the responsibility of the Congolese government," said Ouvry.

Belgium’s federal government echoed the museum’s position.

"Belgium cannot grant privileged and exclusive access to a foreign private company with which it has no contractual link, which would affect research and public consultation," said Digital Minister Vanessa Matz, whose portfolio includes oversight of federal scientific institutions.

KoBold Metals, backed by US tech billionaires Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, signed a major exploration agreement with the DRC last summer. The company has also secured approval from Congolese authorities to utilise the country’s mining database.

The issue has drawn attention in Kinshasa. The office of Congolese Mines Minister Louis Watum did not immediately respond to AFP queries on Thursday regarding reports of a dispute with the AfricaMuseum.

However, Watum was quoted by the Financial Times on Wednesday as expressing a desire to accelerate access to Belgian-held data. He said he had instructed the country’s geological service accordingly.

"They gave me very positive feedback so there's no need for me to push further," he told the British daily.

Speaking at an African mining conference in Cape Town on Wednesday, Watum also dismissed criticism that he had "sold off" the DRC’s mining potential to the United States under a recent bilateral agreement.