A Reuters article suggests that Gécamines will push to secure the rights to buy copper and cobalt at mines it has holdings in, as it attempts to build its own stocks and trade the metals.

According to the article in order to secure the rights, DRC state-owned miner Gécamines needs to amend some terms of its joint venture agreements in the DRC. The Gécamines Chairman, Guy Robert Lukama, is quoted as saying that the JV partners "…can no longer get all the offtake of the production". Lukama reportedly told Reuters that Gécamines wants to be able to buy copper and cobalt proportional to its stakes in joint ventures.

The DRC Government has taken a robust stance with foreign miners over the past two years, with the Tshisekedi regime having been critical of some of the deals struck in the past. The highest profile fallout saw the DRC Government block exports from the Tenke Fungurume (TFM) operation between July 2022 and April 2023. The ban was the result of a dispute between CMOC, which owns 80% of TFM, and Gécamines, which holds the other 20% – specifically related to allegations (denied by CMOC) that CMOC had underestimated reserve levels and reduced royalties due to Gécamines. The total amount of the settlement payment resolving the dispute was US$800M, payable by TFM to Gécamines over six years from 2023 to 2028. As part of the terms, Gécamines is entitled to 20% of the total value of the project’s subcontracting and the right to acquire a volume of production proportional to its 20% stake in TFM on market terms and in compliance with Congolese laws.

CMOC isn’t the only company to fall foul of DRC criticism. It was reported by Bloomberg in August that ERG got a wrap on the knuckles for being too slow with project development. Then in In October 2023, ERG announced that it is constructing a new hydrometallurgical facility at its Comide mine to be completed in 2025. 

From 1967, when Belgium’s UMHK was nationalised, until 1996 when a Belgian-Congolese joint-venture company started cobalt production, all cobalt output in the DRC was from one domestic producer. The civil war in the country led both the government and opposing rebels to promise mining concessions to international investors in return for finance.

After the introduction of a new Mining Code in 2002, a flurry of deals was signed with international investors. However, certain elements of the new Mining Code, coupled with the government’s desire for up-front payments for its mineral concessions created a situation in which state-owned miner Gécamines acted as a gatekeeper to the country’s major cobalt and copper deposits. From 2006 onwards, Gécamines entered joint ventures with foreign mining companies or sold entire operations to foreign firms.

Today, Gécamines holds a minority stake in a large number of copper and cobalt operations, including Kamoto Copper Company (KCC), jointly owned by Glencore (75%) and Gécamines (25%). According to Guy Robert Lukama, Gécamines is currently holding talks with Glencore to receive a share of the off take of metals produced at KCC, equal to its 25% stake in the mine. The Reuters article also quotes him as saying that Gécamines plans to conclude negotiations at all partnerships by end of 2024.

The implications could be very significant if Gécamines goes ahead with its plans as stated, with the state-owned miner holding minority shares in Boss Mining, Deziwa, Kipoi, Luisha, Mikas, Musonoi, Sicomines and more.