The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, has sacked the head of the state-owned mining company.
Albert Yuma, had been at the helm of Gecamines for more than a decade. Mr Yuma strongly denied allegations that he was involved in multi-million dollar corruption scandals.
He described himself as a patriotic reformer of the industry.
President Tshisekedi says cleaning up the mining sector is a key priority and he had been under international pressure to remove Mr Yuma.
Rights groups have long complained that the mining sector is riddled with corruption and human right abuses.