A recent article that was sent to me from a mate. Quite interesting and worth reading from the link below as there are more embedded photos.
In der Demokratischen Republik Kongo liegt das wohl größte Lithiumvorkommen der Welt. Mit dem Rohstoff werden Batterien hergestellt, für den Kampf gegen den Klimawandel ist er unabdingbar. Jetzt will sich China einen Anteil sichern.
www.spiegel.de
This is the raw material of the future – who will lift the treasure?
The Democratic Republic of Congo is probably the largest lithium deposit in the world. The raw material is used to produce batteries and is indispensable for the fight against climate change. Now China wants to secure a share.
Heiner Hoffmann and
Arsène Mpiana report from Manono, Democratic Republic of Congo (photos)
05/02/2023, 21:56 PM
The ceiling tiles in the community hall of Manono are rotten. There is a crack in the concrete floor, it runs across the room. There is no electricity, the organizers have set up a generator outside, inside large speakers and microphones are connected. But most of the participants of the event do not need them, they loudly express their concerns.
In the faded »Grande Salle« of Manono in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, a two-day drive from the nearest major city, world politics is at stake. It's about who gets the mineral of the future on which they all live here: "The Chinese" or "those from the West"?
But beneath Manono's Earth is also, according to geologists, possibly the largest lithium deposit in the world. Untouched. In old documents of the former Belgian mine operators there is still a geological study, it dates back to 1952. In a half-sentence there is talk of »spodumène«, the lithium-containing mineral. It was a thorn in the side of the miners of that time, a waste product. Today it is one of the most sought-after raw materials in the world, experts assume that demand will far exceed supply in the future.
Lithium is used to power batteries, even for electric cars, without lithium the energy transition will hardly be possible. The price of lithium has exploded in the past two years. "Manono can play a significant role in meeting the global demand for lithium," said Nigel Ferguson, CEO of Australian mining company AVZ Minerals. Some even say that whoever controls Manono could ultimately influence the world market price.
The inhabitants of Manono could therefore live in wealth, people could splash around again in the old swimming pool, the »Grande Salle« could again deserve the name »Grande«. But because this is not the case, they have now gathered in the community hall and let their anger run wild. "Why hasn't anything happened?" shouts a local resident. "We want work," says another indignantly. Outside, in front of the community hall, large posters are hung, on the left side is written »Manono yesterday«, including pictures of dilapidated infrastructure and poor people. On the right side is written »Manono tomorrow«, two-lane roads, fresh water from the tap, happy residents.
Balthazar Tshiseke sits at the front, facing the angry crowd. He wears a white T-shirt and a white baseball cap, also printed here »Manono yesterday, Manono tomorrow«. Tshiseke heads the joint venture Dathcom, which has actually been extracting lithium from the ground here for months and turning it into money. He gets his salary from AVZ Minerals, the Australians who hold the majority stake in Dathcom. Those gathered call him "Directeur", the director. Tshiseke patiently listens to the angry speeches, nodding from time to time, then slowly rising. It is not easy for him, his left leg has been paralyzed since childhood after a polio disease. But his voice is firm and firm when he says, "The government just doesn't give us the mining license. We are not allowed to dismantle anything yet."
Balthazar Tshiseke (at the microphone) with his colleague Steve Hodgson in the community hall of Manono
Photo: Arsene Mpiana / DER SPIEGEL
Then he describes the major lines of conflict, it is very complicated, AVZ is hopelessly in the clinch with its joint venture partners. On the one hand, there is the Chinese businessman Cong Maohuai, known in Congo as Simon Cong. He is considered to be politically well wired, both in
Beijing and in
Kinshasa. Cong has his fingers in the game in many dubious deals in the Central African country, he is an extremely controversial figure. Cong's company Dathomir held the majority stake in Manono's concession until 2017, which soon turned out to be a goldmine. Then came the Australians from AVZ, they bought into the lithium deposit from Cong and secured control of the valuable business.
AVZ brought large equipment to Manono, they drilled a total of 42 kilometers of holes in the ground, and almost everywhere they came across lithium-rich rock, sometimes up to 350 meters thick. In 2019, they published the result of the soil samples. "After that, all hell fell on us," says AVZ boss Nigel Ferguson. "Every single Chinese company in the lithium sector has called us."
Residents at artisanal mining: They continue to remove tin in the region
Photo: Arsene Mpiana / DER SPIEGEL
China is the largest player in the lithium business. The company CATL is the world market leader in battery production for electric cars, has just built a huge new factory in Thuringia, the first outside China, here too the lithium from Manono is urgently needed. It is no secret that Beijing would also like to control access to the raw material itself, and Manono now offers a great opportunity for this.
The advances of the Chinese were initially actually successful. Lithium mining is expensive, so Australians need a lot of money. In 2021, they concluded a deal with a subsidiary of the battery giant CATL: In return for 240 million US dollars in start-up financing, the Chinese company is to receive 24 percent of the shares in the lithium joint venture. At that time, no one was worried, there was talk of "our friends from China". The Australians have also already signed three major supply contracts with Chinese companies, and not a ton of Manono has yet been commercially mined.
"We would have liked to work with European or American companies, but unfortunately they are reluctant to invest in countries like Congo," says AVZ CEO Nigel Ferguson.
Europe and the
US are increasingly worried about losing influence in
Africa. The West does not want to become dependent on Chinese raw material extraction. But in Congo, investments are delicate, both economically and ethically. Thus, "the West" is left out.
For AVZ, the trouble soon started. Simon Cong, the Chinese director of Dathomir, suddenly wanted some of his shares back. He felt pulled over the table. And there was also trouble from other sides. The joint venture also includes the Congolese mining company Cominière, which is controlled by the government. This is to ensure that the Congo also gets something. However, Cominière surprisingly negotiated a deal with the state-owned Chinese mining company Zijin, selling its subsidiary 15 percent of Manono's shares. The Australians felt ignored, challenged the transaction, the case now ends up in an international arbitration court.
Suddenly, AVZ is surrounded on three sides by players from China: Simon Cong from Dathomir, CATL and Zijin.
In a press release , the state-owned company Zijin is already gloating that AVZ will ultimately lose control of Manono. Chinese media are now talking about a "power struggle between Chinese actors," as if Australians no longer played a role. China's President Xi Jinping has issued the directive on critical raw materials: Go out and get what you can get. And that's exactly what we're experiencing right now," says AVZ boss Ferguson.
In the Grande Salle of Manono, they have now arrived at big politics. "It's about who is in charge here, those from the West or the Chinese," shouts one participant in the meeting. "We don't want the Chinese!" several others say indignantly. Balthazar Tshiseke nods in satisfaction, the event becomes a success for him, the residents of Manono gather behind the Australian company. But it is only a small victory, because in the end the government in Kinshasa has the upper hand. And there Beijing is a welcome partner that asks few questions and does not give speeches about fighting corruption and sustainability.
AVZ wants to extract 700,000 tons of spodumene per year, test drilling is still underway Photo
: Arsene Mpiana / DER SPIEGEL
Steve Hodgson is a man of order. When he turns off Manono's damaged dirt roads in the white country cruiser, he flashes – even if there is no other vehicle nearby. He makes sure that AVZ cars are always parked backwards and that no one runs the engine. Hodgson is a geologist responsible for the mine on site, monitors the latest test drillings and keeps an eye on the budget.
Next to him it rattles loudly, boring rods are driven into the earth, a total of almost 600 meters deep. Five centimeters thick stone columns are lined up on a tray, the results of the test drilling. Hodgson wipes with a wet cloth over the dusty rock, it begins to shine. With his index finger he taps on a whitish spot, an embedded crystal. "That's the lithium," explains the geologist, the column is crisscrossed by it.
Steve Hodgson and his colleagues sort rock samples in Manono
Photo: Arsene Mpiana / DER SPIEGEL
Manono is believed to be the largest lithium deposit in the world
Photo: Arsene Mpiana / DER SPIEGEL
In order to obtain the coveted raw material, the soil must be dredged over a large area, then the rock is ground and in the end so-called SC6 is extracted from it, the substance contains six percent pure lithium oxide, so it comes to the world market. AVZ wants to extract 700,000 tons per year, from the beginning of 2021 the share price went through the roof. But there is little left of it: The company has suspended trading on the Australian stock exchange because of the disputes in the Congo. According to media reports, numerous investors are planning a class action lawsuit against AVZ because the company did not inform about the risks in good time. Whether the mining license will ever be granted seems more than questionable. The Congolese mining minister did not respond to a request from SPIEGEL. The Australians only have perseverance slogans to keep shareholders happy.
Steve Hodgson parks his pickup truck at the top of the camp, where the mining company has set up camp, right next to the deep craters of the old tin mine. Dozens of men in blue overalls hammer, saw and lay cables, they build small one-story stone houses, shelters for the miners. "Everything should be ready when we finally have the license," says Hodgson. As if they needed something to hold on to, as if walls would do something against political castings.
Aerial view of the hand-dug mines
Photo: DER SPIEGEL
Hodgson points with his right hand to a group of men standing in the lunar landscape with shovels and sieves. "There they are again," he murmurs, "we have to find a solution." They are the inhabitants of Manono, who are trying their hand at artisanal mining, still digging for tin in the old holes, which can be sold for a few euros a day. The Australians have to get rid of them at some point, as heavy excavators and caterpillars are supposed to drive up here. Recently, they had already tried, even hiring security forces to maintain order. But the people in Manono are dependent on the income from tin extraction, the mood threatened to change. Now the mine operators want to allocate their own area to the residents.
A few weeks ago there was a demonstration in Manono, organized by young people. They called for the construction of a battery factory in the city so that the raw material is not only exported, but the added value takes place locally. In fact, the Congolese government has big plans, even creating a center for battery production at a university. But for the time being, it is still a question of who controls the largest lithium deposit in the world.
Steve Hodgson is now standing in front of the police station, together with a lawyer. He and his colleagues have confiscated a large excavator that was illegally travelling in the concession, allegedly to collect gravel for road construction. It quickly turned out that the heavy vehicle was apparently on the road on behalf of a Chinese company. A test of power, the AVZ people believe. The driver was arrested directly; a small victory, but some time later he is released. The Chinese always find a solution.
. They have no reason not to meet, more reason to meet, dodgy if they don’t want to, but at this stage and what’s on the line you don’t take no for an answer and go find them.
