March 5 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday

refused to hold five major technology companies liable over

their alleged support for the use of child labor in cobalt

mining operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia

upheld a district judge's dismissal of claims against Apple ( AAPL )

, Google parent Alphabet, Dell Technologies ( DELL )

, Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Tesla.

Former cobalt miners had sued under the federal Trafficking

Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, accusing the companies

of participating in a "forced labor" venture with cobalt

suppliers by purchasing the metal.

But the appeals court said buying cobalt through the global

supply chain was not "participation in a venture" with the

meaning of that law.