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The Democratic Republic of Congo will create a paramilitary unit to police its mines with funding from the US and United Arab Emirates, the country’s General Inspectorate of Mines said.

The agency will invest $100 million and deploy as many of 3,000 armed recruits by December, with a goal of 20,000 “mining guards” around the country by 2028, it said in an emailed statement on Monday.

The force will secure production, ensure traceable transport of minerals, and replace “defense forces currently deployed in mining zones,” according to the statement.

Police currently patrol most operations, but military and presidential guard personnel are occasionally found at sites, often in breach of the country’s mining code. The new unit will eventually replace the police, the IGM told Bloomberg in a separate message.

Congo is the world’s second-biggest source of copper and largest producer of key battery mineral cobalt. While those two metals are largely mined at massive industrial projects, most of Congo’s mines are dug by hand by millions of artisanal miners.

Read more at: Bloomberg