LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) - Away from the headlines around

the minerals deal with Ukraine, the United States has pursued a

potentially even more significant critical metals deal in the

Great Lakes region of Africa.

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo reached out

to the Donald Trump administration with a Ukrainian-style

proposal in February in response to the rapid advance of the

Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group in the east of the country,

The U.S. government has responded enthusiastically with a

flurry of negotiations aimed at ending a decades-long conflict

born out of the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

The political momentum is building towards a potential peace

deal between Congo and Rwanda as soon as May, to be accompanied

by bilateral minerals deals between both countries and the

United States.

At stake are the mineral riches of North and South Kivu

provinces, a major but highly problematic source of metals such

as tin, tungsten and coltan.

SAVING THE BISIE TIN MINE

The M23 rebels seized control of Goma and Bukavu, eastern

Congo's two largest cities, in February. By early March, they

had advanced rapidly westwards to Walikale, the location of the

Bisie tin mine.

Bisie is a poster child for ethical mining in the Congo,

having transitioned from an artisanal site to a fully-modernised

operation that is the world's fourth largest producer of tin

concentrates.

Bisie's operator, Alphamin Resources ( AFMJF ), quickly shut down

and evacuated the site as M23 rebels closed in, sending tin

prices into a frenzy and threatening the Congolese government

with the loss of a major source of revenue.

The fall of Walikale seems to have accelerated direct talks

between the U.S. government, Congo and Rwanda, resulting in M23

fighters withdrawing in what they presented as a goodwill

gesture ahead of Qatar-brokered peace talks.

Alphamin resumed operations at Bisie on April 15.

ARMED RICHES

Bisie is the only official-sector mine in North and South

Kivu provinces. Everything else is artisanal.

Researchers from The International Peace Information Service

have mapped over 2,800 sites in eastern Congo since 2009 and

collected information from 829 active sites that it estimated

employed some 132,000 miners between 2021 and 2023.

Of the sites surveyed, 85% were mining gold and most of the

rest digging for the 3T minerals - tin, tungsten and tantalum,

the latter occurring as coltan ore.

The IPIS estimates that 61% of miners at these sites were

affected by "armed interference", defined as coercive

rent-taking, from one of the many armed groups operating in the

region, not least the Congolese army.

This has been a problem for many years. Indeed, Congo was

the template for what became known as "conflict minerals"

legislation such as the 2010 Dodds-Frank Act requiring U.S.

companies to adhere to responsible sourcing rules.

Sadly, not much has changed on the ground.

The M23 rebels themselves are involved in the minerals trade.

Artisanal producers of coltan in the town of Rubaya pay a 15%

tax to the group, Reuters journalists found on a visit to

rebel-controlled areas.

The seepage of metals across Congo's eastern borders is a

major problem, not just for the Congolese government, but also

for Western buyers due to the threat of conflict minerals

contaminating the official supply chain.

THE GREAT RAILWAY GAME

Congo's minerals wealth is undisputed and its potential rewards

far more immediate than from the deal with Ukraine.

A peace deal between Rwanda, Congo and the M23 rebel group

would be an important first step to restoring order to the

troubled Kivu provinces.

But there are plenty of other armed groups actively

operating in the region and it is unclear how far the United

States would want to commit to any military presence to deter

them.

The prize, however, is tantalisingly large.

Congo is also one of the world's richest sources of copper

and cobalt, which are produced far away from the Great Lakes

region in the southern province of Katanga.

This part of Congo's mineral wealth is largely controlled by

Chinese operators, which ship both raw materials and finished

metal back to China.

The West would love to loosen China's grip.

A lot of investment is going into the Lobito Corridor project,

which will rehabilitate and extend a railway line linking the

Angolan port of Lobito with Congo's copper-belt mines.

The aim is to use the railway as a generator of economic

development and also open up a western transport route for

Congo's metals.

China's response is a $1.4 billion deal to upgrade the

Tanzania-Zambia railway line that transports Chinese-produced

metals eastwards to the port of Dar es Salaam.

Railways have until now defined the great minerals game

being played out between East and West in the heart of Africa.

A minerals-for-security deal in the north of the country

would open a whole new front in that strategic competition and a

new chapter in Congo's history.

The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a

columnist for Reuters.

(Editing by Barbara Lewis)