The Democratic Republic of Congo appealed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to prevent forthcoming conflict-mineral rules from causing a “de- facto embargo” on trade from the Central African nation...The SEC rules, which are expected as early as next month, will apply to U.S. companies involved in the trade in tin ore, tantalum, tungsten and gold shipped from Congo and nine neighboring countries...The new rules left tens of thousands of people out of work, according Paul Yenga Mabolia, head of Promines, a World Bank program assisting Congo’s mining industry. “Nobody was prepared and there was no program to alleviate the impact of the law,” he said...[refers to Traxys, Malaysia Smelting Corp. & Amalgamated Metals]