Niotan Inc., a mineral trading company based in Nevada, was featured in a UN report detailing how mineral exports from the DRC are being used to fund a conflict that has resulted in the deaths of over 3.8 million and the rape of over 200,000 women. Also noted were companies in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the UAE, as well as arms merchants in Sudan and North Korea. The UN said those arms are purchased with money made from illegal mineral sales in violation of a UN arms embargo.
The UN report explains how Niotan buys and sells a mineral used to produce capacitors used in high-demand electronic consumer products, like cell phones and personal computers.
Chinese-run Huaying Trading Company (HTC), Bukavu-based World Mining Company (WMC) and Etablissement Muyeye all purchase the mineral from the FDLR-controlled South Kivu province. Those three companies sell to African Ventures, LLC., a company based in Hong Kong. African Ventures then sells to Refractory Metals Mining Company Ltd. (RMMC), originally named Niotan Ltd. and also based in Hong Kong, which then ships the minerals to Niotan Inc. in Nevada. African Ventures was set up by Niotan’s CEO’s father, and it is run by Niotan, along with RMMC.
Read more at The Nation