Congo mining minister Martin Kabwelulu said his government has extended a ban on mining in three provinces in the east of the country by at least two weeks. The Democratic Republic of Congo is Africa’s biggest producer of tin ore. Speaking in Kinshasa, Kabwelulu said the suspension will continue while the Congolese army attempts to stabilise the area around Bisie, the region’s biggest tin-ore mine. Congolese President Joseph Kabila recently suspended mining operations in North Kivu, South Kivu and Maniema provinces in September in a move aimed at choking off funding to illegal networks fuelling the region's violence. Bisie is said to account for more than 70 percent of the production of tin ore, known as cassiterite, from North Kivu province. It has long been a source of conflict between rebel groups, traders and the Congolese army. According to UN documents and sources some factions of Congo's army have taken up artisanal mining operations since their ban, leaving their posts to enrich themselves in the same way as the rebels they are fighting. Many tin mines in eastern Congo are controlled by armed groups. Some of the tin they mine ends up in circuit boards of mobile phones, laptops and MP3 players. Kabwelulu said he would advise the president to allow existing ore stocks to be exported.