A new investigation alleges that a mineral-rich region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, once a key supplier of uranium for early American nuclear weapons, has been quietly exporting the material to China for roughly 20 years despite a ban on commercial uranium sales. According to Lighthouse Reports, uranium has been extracted as a by-product of cobalt mining in the mineral-rich Katanga region and shipped alongside cobalt ore. The findings draw on a leaked memo tied to the International Atomic Energy Agency and internal records from TFM, a mining operation once American-owned but now controlled by China’s CMOC. The Shinkolobwe mine, historically linked to US nuclear weapons production, was officially shut in 2004, yet mining activity has continued nearby. Investigators estimate between 2,000 and 5,000 tons of uranium left Congo for China between 2000 and 2024.
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