The United States has imposed sanctions on a Rwandan gold refinery and an associated network of companies and individuals, accusing them of laundering gold extracted from conflict areas of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Who was sanctioned

The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Gasabo Gold Refinery, based in Kigali, along with its chairman and general manager and three linked mining companies, the Treasury said. The action freezes any US assets of those named and bars Americans from dealing with them.

The accusations

According to the Treasury, gold mined in parts of eastern DRC controlled by the March 23 Movement (M23) was moved across the border and processed at the refinery, with the proceeds helping to fund the armed group. US officials alleged that Rwandan military personnel oversaw the shipments — a claim that implicates Rwanda's armed forces. The Treasury said at least 60 kilograms of gold passed through the network early this year. Rwanda's government did not immediately respond to the specific allegations, according to news reports.

The wider conflict

Eastern DRC has endured decades of conflict involving many armed groups in its mineral-rich provinces. M23 re-emerged as a major force from 2022 and seized the key cities of Goma and Bukavu in late 2024. UN experts and Western governments have accused Rwanda of backing M23 with troops and weapons — accusations Rwanda has repeatedly and firmly denied, describing its border posture as defensive against threats including the FDLR, a Rwandan Hutu militia based in Congo. newsparlor cannot independently verify the competing claims.

The peace-deal backdrop

The sanctions follow a US-brokered agreement signed by the DRC and Rwanda in December 2025 aimed at ending the conflict and creating more transparent mineral supply chains, the State Department said. Washington cast the new measures as reinforcing that deal by cutting off financing for armed groups. The targeted refinery had already faced European Union restrictions, which trade data cited by Mining.com link to a steep fall in Rwanda's declared gold exports over the past year, though precise figures vary by source.

What comes next

OFAC has issued several rounds of sanctions tied to the eastern DRC conflict in recent months. Whether the latest designations change behavior on the ground — or complicate the fragile peace process — will depend on how Kigali, Kinshasa and the armed groups respond. Neither the Rwandan nor the Congolese government had issued a detailed public statement at the time of writing.