underground miners working in artisanal and small-scale mining died in southeastern DRC between September 2014 and December 2015. Amnesty International assessed that the true figure is unknown as many accidents go unrecorded and bodies are left buried in the rubble . To this day, there is no official tally of the total number of such deaths. (9) As of 2020, 15 of the 19 cobalt mines in the DRC were owned or financed by PRC companies. (10) The 5 biggest PRC-owned mining companies in the DRC have lines of credit from PRC state-owned banks totaling $124 billion. (11) China Molybdenum, a PRC mining and trading company, is the second-largest producer of cobalt worldwide. In 2016, it purchased Tenke Fungurume, which controlled one of the largest cobalt reserves in the world. More than $1.59 billion of the $2.65 billion came from loans from PRC state-owned banks. (12) Under PRC ownership of mining companies in the DRC, there has been reportedly a significant rise in serious injuries. There are questions regarding proper oversight of safety in the mines, as well as coverups of deaths and injuries. (13) In July 2021, PRC mining company managers in Kolwezi ordered the brutal beating and whipping of miners. (14) On July 14, 2022, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a bipartisan congressional commission, held a hearing on Child Labor and Human Rights Violations in the Mining Industry of the Democratic Republic of Congo . The hearing highlighted the concerns of child and forced labor in the DRC, the disregard of worker safety, and environmental degradation. It also highlighted PRC domination of strategic metals and minerals in the global supply chain. (15) In the 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report, the Department of State emphasized that In the DRC, artisanal and small-scale mining of cobalt has been associated with forced child labor and other abuses , noting further that Since 2015, the TIP Report narratives on the DRC have highlighted forced labor of children in artisanal cobalt mines. . The DRC is on the Tier 2 Watch