The Democratic Republic of Congo is centralising control over geological data tied to its vast mineral reserves, signing a $180 million contract with Spanish firm Xcalibur to map its territory and digitise historical mining records into a national database. Kinshasa (the DRC's capital) plans to restrict access to this information through a tiered, fee-based system, classifying geological data as strategic national infrastructure — a move intended to strengthen the government's hand in negotiations with mining companies and attract new investment. The policy arrives as competition between the United States and China for access to critical minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium, and tantalum — of which the DRC is a leading global supplier — continues to escalate.