Two landslides at Rubaya coltan mines killed 600+ artisanal miners in six weeks because the site was classified 'red status' (mining prohibited) yet 15-30% of global coltan still comes from it

On January 28, 2026, a landslide triggered the collapse of artisanal mining tunnels at Rubaya in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing over 400 people. Six weeks later, on March 3, 2026, a second landslide at the same site killed over 200 more. The victims were overwhelmingly artisanal miners, but also children, small traders, and residents of surrounding villages. Many died of asphyxiation underground; others were crushed by collapsing earth. The mines reopened by February 2, less than a week after the first disaster, with miners returning to the same unstable tunnels. Rubaya produces between 15 and 30 percent of the world's coltan, the ore from which tantalum is extracted for use in capacitors found in every smartphone, laptop, and server on earth. The site has been classified as 'red status' by the DRC government, meaning all mining and mineral commercialization is officially prohibited. Yet mining continues in flagrant violation of this designation because the M23 rebel group, which has controlled the area since May 2024, imposes taxes on coltan extraction amounting to over $800,000 per month. The armed group has no incentive to enforce safety standards and every incentive to maximize extraction. The structural geology of Rubaya makes artisanal mining especially lethal. Miners dig narrow shafts and tunnels manually using basic tools, creating complex branching networks that extend into hillsides. Over time, these excavations create honeycomb-like voids that weaken slope integrity. When heavy rains saturate the destabilized ground, the hillsides fail catastrophically. There is no engineering support, no ventilation, no escape infrastructure, and no rescue capability. This problem persists because of a toxic intersection of armed conflict, global supply chain opacity, and poverty. The miners at Rubaya have no alternative livelihood. Over 73% of the DRC's population lives below the international poverty line. International supply chain due diligence frameworks like the OECD guidelines and the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation exist on paper, but they cannot enforce safety standards at a site controlled by a rebel militia in an active conflict zone. The coltan enters the global supply chain through intermediaries, gets smelted, and becomes untraceable tantalum powder in components that end up in devices sold by companies that have pledged responsible sourcing.