NEWSECONOMYINTERNATIONAL
DRC excluded from the list of investments of the French group ERAMET, following the blocking of the PE of lithium of Manono by the government
June 11, 2023
Kiki Kienge
By
Kiki Kienge
It was last March that the DR Congo and the EU announced an agreement on rare minerals such as copper, cobalt and lithium, the two parties initiated negotiations for a partnership on the exploitation of rare minerals and strategic, for the next few months a "win-win" memorandum of understanding and a roadmap are announced on this cooperation and investment agreement in a mining sector in the DRC, so the EU intends to fight the Chinese monopoly in the DRC , reduce its dependence on China and accelerate its ecological transition.
The EU is focusing above all on the development of a value chain in the DR Congo and the creation of a market for the battery, electric vehicle and renewable energy industry, as pointed out by Mrs. Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for
International Partnerships :
“We want to create value in the DRC, local added value. Not just exporting your raw materials to Finland, Europe and then refining them in Europe. We do n't want to create dependency, nor do we want neocolonialism. We really want to create local value and we want to create a win-win partnership. »
During the visit of President
Emmanuel Macron to Kinshasa, the two countries notably concluded an agreement for the mapping and sustainable management of the mining resources which abound in the Congolese subsoil, French companies and institutes will be invited to map and invest in the mining sector of the DR Congo according to this partnership.
But here is following the blocking of the delivery of the exploitation permit 13359 by the Congolese government to DATHCOM, of which the group AVZ MINERALS owns 75%, which must allow the start of the exploitation of the lithium of Manono, the French group, ERAMET has just excluded the DR Congo from its investment strategy in Africa for the time being.
“
Geoff Streeton , director of strategy for the company, and
Christophe Thillier , in charge of exploration, have also drawn a line under the DRC for the moment, despite having identified its lithium potential.
The difficulties encountered by the Australian
AVZ MINERALS on its Manono project in Tanganyka in the south-east of the country gave pause to the French company which has chosen to concentrate its investments in this sector on its Centenario-Ratones project in Argentina," said the media, Africa Intelligence.
ERAMET is a French mining and metallurgical company with a workforce of 9,090 employees spread over 17 mining and industrial sites in 15 countries. In 2022, it achieved a turnover of 5.014 billion euros.
On November 8, 2021, ERAMET announced the launch of its lithium mine project in the Andean highlands of northern Argentina. The construction of a plant will start in early 2022 and end in 2024 with the aim of producing 24,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate per year. Much of its lithium production will supply the European battery construction sector.
