A Bloomberg report suggests a DRC state-owned company Gécamines is interested in Eurasian Resources Group’s (ERG) copper-cobalt assets.

The DRC government claims ERG has been too slow in developing certain copper-cobalt assets and wants to overtake ownership over some. However, ERG hasn’t confirmed if Gécamines has made an offer to buy its assets or whether it’s interested in selling any. The takeover plans are thought to exclude ERG’s Metalkol and Frontier operations. Other ERG operations in the DRC include Boss Mining, the COMIDE project, and the Kalukundi concession. ERG also owns the Chambishi Metals Refinery in Zambia.

COMIDE has been under care and maintenance since 2017 and mine operations at Boss Mining were suspended in June 2023 (after being operational for six months) over environmental concerns when waste tailings were sent into a local river during a flood. So far, ERG has completed a feasibility study (FS) for the COMIDE mine project and plans on adding a processing plant with a nameplate production capacity of 80ktpy Cu-cathode and 12ktpy cobalt with a 26-year life-of-mine (LOM), but no planned production date has been set.

Recently there have been growing tensions between the DRC government and foreign entities operating in the DRC copper-cobalt belt. The biggest schism was with CMOC over Tenke Fungurume’s mine royalties, an issue that led to an extended export ban eventually resolved earlier this year. The government has also been vocal over the terms of the Sicomines deal struck in 2008, with a view to increasing its stake in the JV from 32% to 70%. It remains possible that the government's position and robust tone relate in part to the upcoming election, but it does appear that the Tshisekedi administration feels that some deals struck under Kabila did not grant sufficient benefits to the DRC and that it needs to act to capture more value from copper and cobalt demand brought about by energy transition.

Gécamines has previously tried to make an offer for some of ERG’s mine assets in the DRC. According to Bloomberg reports, in February 2023, Gécamines sent a letter to ERG’s 100% owned subsidiary Africo Resources Limited (ARL), with considerations to cancel its Swanmines JV (ERG 75%, Gécamines 25%) and demanded the return of the Kalukundi concession permit due to a lack of development. The dispute is still ongoing and being resolved at the International Chamber of Commerce’s arbitration court.

As a response to the state of its relationship with the DRC government, ERG Africa signed a five-year Community Development Plan Agreement at its COMIDE and Boss Mining assets in Lualaba and Haut-Katanga in August 2023. Under the agreements, ERG commits to invest in local infrastructure and social development initiatives within 21 surrounding communities in total. However, the agreement is subject to commence once mines are operational which is uncertain.