The AfricaMuseum in Tervuren, Belgium, and the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are currently in a disagreement regarding the management and transfer of geological records from the colonial period.

位於比利時特夫雷倫的非洲博物館與剛果民主共和國 (DRC) 政府，目前在殖民時期地質記錄的管理與移交方面存在分歧。

These archives contain detailed handwritten notes about the minerals in the DRC. This mapping began under King Leopold II in 1885 and continued until the country gained independence in 1960. Because the DRC Ministry of Mines believes that 90% of its important mineral deposits—such as cobalt, copper, lithium, and coltan—have not been used yet, these records are very valuable. Consequently, the DRC government has asked for the fast transfer and digitization of these documents to help find these resources.

這些檔案包含關於剛果民主共和國礦產的詳細手寫筆記。這種地圖繪製始於 1885 年利奧波德二世時期，並一直持續到 1960 年該國獨立。由於剛果民主共和國礦業部認為 90% 的重要礦藏——例如鈷、銅、鋰和鈳鉭鐵礦——尚未被開發，因此這些記錄非常寶貴。因此，剛果民主共和國政府要求快速移交並將這些文件數位化，以協助尋找這些資源。

To achieve this, a US-based private company called KoBold Metals, funded by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, offered to digitize the archives for public use. However, the AfricaMuseum and the Belgian government rejected this offer. Director Bart Ouvry and spokesperson Florinda Baleci emphasized that the archives are public property. They asserted that allowing a foreign company to privatize these records would be unethical and illegal. Furthermore, the museum stated that the 2022 Belgian law about returning colonial collections does not apply to archival documents.

為了實現這一目標，一家由傑夫·貝佐斯與比爾·蓋茲資助的美國私人公司 KoBold Metals 提議將這些檔案數位化以供大眾使用。然而，非洲博物館與比利時政府拒絕了這一提議。館長 Bart Ouvry 與發言人 Florinda Baleci 強調，這些檔案是公共財產。他們主張，允許外國公司將這些記錄私有化是不道德且違法的。此外，博物館表示，2022 年比利時關於歸還殖民收藏品的法律並不適用於檔案文件。

Despite this disagreement, an official digitization project is now happening with support from the European Union and the National Geological Survey of the DRC. This project uses artificial intelligence and is managed by museum scientists to ensure the work is accurate. Although the museum denied that the US government pressured them, they have agreed to prioritize the transfer of data for three specific regions that are strategically important to the Congolese government.

儘管存在分歧，在歐盟與剛果民主共和國國家地質調查局的支持下，一個官方數位化項目目前正在進行。該項目利用人工智慧，並由博物館科學家管理，以確保工作的準確性。雖然博物館否認受到美國政府的壓力，但他們已同意優先移交三個對剛果政府具有戰略重要性地區的數據。

The AfricaMuseum plans to finish digitizing the entire archive within four to five years. They intend to keep control of the process while providing the DRC government with limited access to the data.

非洲博物館計劃在四到五年內完成整個檔案庫的數位化。他們打算在向剛果民主共和國政府提供有限數據存取權的同時，繼續掌控整個過程。