The United States has rejected claims that it is bankrolling a new paramilitary force tasked with guarding mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, after Congolese authorities announced plans for a heavily armed “mine guard” to secure the country’s vast mineral wealth.

Congo’s General Inspectorate of Mines, known by its French acronym IGM, said it was creating a “paramilitary special unit intended to secure the entire mineral exploitation chain” from pit to export. The body initially suggested the force would receive about $100 million through “strategic partnerships” involving the United States and the United Arab Emirates.

The announcement immediately raised questions about foreign involvement in a security structure operating in a sector already under intense international scrutiny for human rights abuses, corruption and opaque contracts.

The US embassy in Kinshasa moved quickly to distance Washington from any direct role in financing the force, stating that the US government “is not funding paramilitary groups to guard mines.” It stressed that American engagement in Congo remains focused on governance, transparency and shared economic growth under an existing Strategic Partnership Agreement.

Following the embassy’s clarification, the IGM issued a revised statement, walking back its earlier implication of direct state funding. It said the new unit would be financed by “different types of stakeholders” and would “not involve direct funding from any single government,” suggesting a mix of contributions from mining companies, private investors and possibly multilateral partners.

The stakes are high. The DRC produces about 70 percent of the world’s cobalt, a critical component in electric vehicle batteries and defence technologies, and holds some of the richest known deposits of copper, coltan and lithium. Chinese firms dominate much of the sector, though Western and other companies are also present.

The government argues that a specialised mine guard is needed to curb rampant smuggling, armed group infiltration and violent criminality around mining sites, particularly in the conflict-ridden east where M23 rebels and other militias operate.

According to the IGM, the force will start with 2,500 to 3,000 personnel after six months of training, eventually expanding to more than 20,000 members deployed across all 22 mining provinces. It is expected to take over duties currently handled by regular army units, including securing sites, escorting mineral convoys and protecting foreign investments, in a bid to reassure investors while tightening state control over a sector central to the global energy transition.