Remark
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The best part is that the DRC don't have any F35's - mere details the author missed I guess?
AVZ Discussion 2022
- Thread starter GazDix
- Start date
BRICK
Top 20
The planes maybe they could buy 2 or 3, but you gotta have pilots who can actually fly them as well. No way they could even have the ground supportThe best part is that the DRC don't have any F35's - mere details the author missed I guess?
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Where is the Chinese military hardware ??
That’s more likely
Frank
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Wonder who reported me to the Fun Police for Profanity
*I only have one thing to say your Honor
Remark
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Probably Tolate, it's having a bad dayWonder who reported me to the Fun Police for Profanity
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*I only have one thing to say your Honor
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Thompson is the Weekend Australian journo who first reported on Trump's support for AVZ, re mineral/security talks.
As for Thompson's $1.5b figure, someone suggested that it appears to be guided by CATHs recent purchase price for 30%. Too funny.
Frank
Top 20
5 questions to understand increased interest in Congolese lithium despite falling prices
(Ecofin Agency) - In talks with Kinshasa for a potential entry on the Manono project, Rio Tinto joins the list of companies interested in Congolese lithium. If the information, reported last week by Bloomberg, is confirmed, it would be a strong signal, against the current market trend, which reveals a strategic shift in global competition for critical metals.Why this interest now, when prices are falling?
Since 2023, the world market for lithium has experienced a significant decline in prices.
By way of illustration, the price of lithium carbonate rose from a record of 81,360 dollars per ton in November 2022 to 20,782 dollars per ton in February 2024, and then fell to less than 11,000 dollars last September and less than 10,000 dollars in March 2025.
This decline is reportedly due to oversupply, while demand is increasing at a more moderate pace.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global lithium production reached 194,000 tonnes in 2023, an increase of 81% compared to 2021.
However, demand increased by only 63% over the same period, reaching 165 000 tonnes, a slowdown that analysts explain by several factors, including accumulation of stocks and less dynamic growth in sales of electric vehicles.
This market context has already slowed down several projects in Africa, such as Atex in Côte d’Ivoire or Ewoyaa in Ghana, according to our previous publications.
Yet, despite this, several major companies are advancing their pawns on the continent.
In Namibia, the world's second largest lithium producer, Chilean SQM, confirmed in March 2025 a gradual investment of up to 40 million dollars.
Rio Tinto could be followed by the same logic if its interest in the Manono project in the DRC is confirmed.
If, on the air, the timing is surprising, it could actually be part of a long-term strategy of securing major assets for the energy transition now, anticipating a rebound in demand towards 2030.
Congolese lithium: why does it attract so much interest despite the potential risks?
The Manono project (which is in a lithium-rich region) is among the largest untapped deposits in the world, with around 400 million tonnes of resources, according to estimates by the Australian AVZ Minerals, which has been in dispute for several months with the DRC and the public company Cominière on the southern part of the licence.
The northern part of the project is now managed by the Chinese Zijin Mining.
In January, he confirmed his intention to start production as early as 2026, making the DRC the third largest producer of lithium, after zimbabwe and Mali, which recently commissioned two mines (Goulamina and Bougouni), as we reported in February.
According to several consistent sources, it was the southern part that attracted other actors, including the American company KoBold Metals, supported by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, that proposed in January a shareholder-oriented set of the Congolese state (and allowing it to settle the dispute with AVZ) in order to develop the deposit.
Discussions between the Congolese State and Rio Tinto would focus on the same deposit.
This degree of competition, despite the uncertain climate due to the dispute, could reflect a willingness on the part of these companies to position themselves before the cards are reshuffled.
What geostrategic role does the DRC play in the lithium market?
Interest in Manono goes beyond the industrial logic alone, as the DRC is far from being the country with the best housing of lithium reserves, the ranking being dominated by Chile, Australia, Argentina, and China.
It is part of a broader geopolitical dynamic: Western countries’ desire to reduce their dependence on China, which controls more than 60% of global lithium refining, according to data from the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC).
The DRC, the world’s largest cobalt producer, now appears to be a strategic field for balancing supply chains.
In addition to the presence of the Chinese Zijin Mining on the northern part of the project, KoBold Metals’ ambitions come in the context of discussions announced between Kinshasa and Washington on a potential mineral agreement against security support, as revealed in an Ecofin article earlier this month.
The potential arrival of Rio Tinto on the southern part, in this already tense landscape, could be a new discreet front between rival powers over critical metals.
What is Rio Tinto really looking for in the DRC?
Rio Tinto pursues a global strategy for integration into the lithium value chain.
After buying Arcadium Lithium for 6.7 billion dollars in 2024, the group consolidated its presence in Argentina, Serbia, and signed a partnership with Rwanda to exploit strategic minerals including lithium.
The interest in Manono is therefore consistent with its logic of expansion towards high-potential assets, even in complex jurisdictions.
Africa is emerging as a new frontier between relatively low entry costs, albeit abundant resources, and a growing political will to value critical metals.
For Rio Tinto, which is already known on the continent for its presence on other minerals such as iron ore in Guinea, the time is strategic.
Entering Manono today would secure a world-class asset before it becomes more contested – an anticipation that few actors have the means or the will to meet in the current cycle trough.
For Kinshasa, the interest of Rio Tinto, KoBold, Zijin and AVZ is a rare opportunity. But if it is to become a strategic lever, we must get rid of the blur.
The dispute between Cominière and AVZ, which has already led to a government condemnation at 42.4 million dollars by the International Chamber of Commerce, weighs on the country’s credibility.
The DRC needs to clarify rights, secure investors, and structure a vision on the value chain.
Other countries are moving forward. Mali, thanks to Goulamina and Bougouni, is becoming a leader in West Africa.
It is already investing in local transformation. The DRC has the assets to follow this path.
According to UK Aid and BloombergNEF, the country has a comparative advantage over refining costs. However, it must be based on a coherent industrial strategy, not on time-bound one-off arrangements or legal arbitrage.
By 2050, global demand for lithium could increase 75-fold according to the DMCC.
Africa could provide 12% by 2033 by 2033, compared to 4% in 2023.
The DRC is eligible for a major part of this market. But between the subsoil’s promises and the benefits of the value chain, the crucial stage of governance remains to be taken.
Louis-Nino Kansoun
Frank
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bloke383
Regular
From Kiki on X
"AVZ is in bilateral talks with the US authorities to have it's licence reinstated in it's entirety" "Discussions are going well"
"AVZ reserves the right to claim all damages and lost revenue worth close to $10 billion . We wish Celestin good luck with his future"
"AVZ is in bilateral talks with the US authorities to have it's licence reinstated in it's entirety" "Discussions are going well"
"AVZ reserves the right to claim all damages and lost revenue worth close to $10 billion . We wish Celestin good luck with his future"
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BRICK
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What the fuck.Wonder who reported me to the Fun Police for Profanity
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*I only have one thing to say your Honor
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Azzler
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"We wish Celestin good luck with his future"
Winenut
Go AVZ!
even though it may be very, very...... short"We wish Celestin good luck with his future"
Retrobyte
Hates a beer
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