Here's the full article: http://archive.today/hial3
Legal action over huge lithium project in DR Congo on hold as US battles China’s dominance
AVZ Minerals has paused a legal action over a Congo mining project as the US seeks to buy its stake and rival China’s interests in the region
Reading Time:3 minutes
Jevans Nyabiage
Published: 12:00pm, 1 Jun 2025
Perth-based AVZ Minerals has suspended its arbitration case against the Democratic Republic of Congo until later this month, following US encouragement to resolve the dispute over the massive Manono lithium project.
The suspension, announced last week, comes as the US backs start-up KoBold Metals – funded by tech billionaires including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos – to acquire AVZ’s stake in Manono.
If successful, KoBold will pledge US$1 billion (7.2 billion yuan) to develop the project, countering China’s Zijin Mining, which controls the northern section after Congo revoked AVZ’s rights in 2023. However, KoBold is a relatively small entity compared to CMOC Group, CNMC, and other Chinese mining companies in the African country.
AVZ said in a statement last week that “the United States Government has encouraged the parties to take whatever steps are necessary to allow for a climate conducive to discussions leading to a meaningful settlement between the DRC and AVZ”.
The move signals Washington’s growing efforts to secure critical minerals in Congo, directly challenging China’s dominance in the country over control of critical minerals such as lithium and copper, vital for the global green energy transition.
Congo is advancing negotiations on a proposed “minerals-for-security” deal with the US, which has offered to help broker peace between Congo and Rwanda to stabilise the mineral-rich eastern region.
The mining site of the Chinese mining company Zijin Mining in Kolwezi, southern Democratic Republic of Congo. China has long held mining interests in the country. Photo: Xinhua
That marked a significant shift from the US policy on minerals in Congo. Until recently, the US showed little interest in Congo’s minerals, which American companies perceived as “risky, corrupt, and opaque” for investment.
By contrast, China has, in less than two decades, steadily ramped up investments, even acquiring interests previously owned by American companies, to become the largest investor in Congo’s mining sector.
Chinese infrastructure investment commitments in Congo were valued at US$7 billion last year, making China the largest investor in the country.
A report by the Atlantic Council last week said China, the US and the European Union were “engaged in a technological race spurring competition for access to these critical minerals”, and at the centre was Congo, which was being courted by these powers like never before.
Kai Xue, a Beijing-based China-Africa mining lawyer, views the potential minerals deal for security between Congo and the US positively, arguing that President Trump’s engagement signals genuine interest.
“Republicans are especially prone to ask, ‘Who cares what happens in the Congo?’” Xue noted. He recalled that in 2012, strong international pressure from donor countries pushed Rwanda and M23 rebels out of Goma within 10 days, but stressed that “that kind of pressure is absent in 2025”.
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He said that while lithium was strategically important, Congo’s greatest economic potential was in copper, particularly for the green transition. The country is the world’s second-largest copper producer.
Xue said copper output could “triple again”, potentially making Congo the world’s largest copper producer by 2040 and enabling it to achieve middle-income status based on copper alone.
He said that if a US company secured lithium interests, prompting the US to promote regional stability and thus further copper mining growth, this scenario would benefit all stakeholders: Congo, Chinese mining companies and the global green energy transition.
Chris Berry, head of US-based commodities advisory firm House Mountain Partners, affirmed the Trump administration’s rationale for wanting a presence in Africa but cautioned whether the mineral-for-security deal could make progress.
“What or who defines ‘security’? Are the economics of a deposit irrelevant, meaning if the mining does not make economic sense, are the security guarantees still enforceable?” he asked.
Berry went on to state that, “given the plethora of critical mineral deposits in more reliable geopolitical jurisdictions, it is somewhat surprising that KoBold has decided to focus on the DRC as opposed to elsewhere”.
“I will be curious to see what the terms of these deals are when the ink is dry on the contracts. I don’t think the dust has settled here yet,” he added.
And why does this part of Xinhua's photo look like it's just AI generated or a CAD 3-D architectural drawing?
Typical of those rodents trying to pass off a serving suggestion as a factual photo.
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