*Fyi, In other News, I see where the DRC has a few $Billion $Bucks towards our ICSID settlement
Mine in the DRC: the Chinese CMOC has agreed to pay 2 billion dollars to its Congolese partner
Chinese mining group CMOC has agreed to pay its domestic partner in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gécamines, $2 billion to settle a dispute over royalties related to a mining joint venture, according to a stock market filing released Tuesday.
After months of legal disputes, an agreement was reached last April between the Chinese group CMOC, which owns 80% of the Tenke Fungurume mine (TFM, south-east) and its Congolese partner, the public mining company Gécamines, but details had not been disclosed.
Gécamines accusing the Chinese group of concealing information on the size of its reserves, the huge mine had been hit with an export ban between July 2022 and April, leading to the immobilization of tens of thousands of tonnes of copper and of cobalt.
Since the conclusion of the agreement, the CMOC group has gradually begun to dispose of these huge stocks, representing for cobalt powder no less than 7% of the world's annual production in 2022.
This dispute coincided with the stated desire of the DRC to renegotiate more widely contracts that it deems to its disadvantage.
The president, Felix Tshisekedi, went to China at the end of May to discuss, among other things, Chinese mining contracts.
Details of the TFM deal were only released on Tuesday, when CMOC said in a stock market filing that the mine would pay Gécamines $800 million in compensation payment and at least $1.2 billion in dividends on several years.
Going forward, “Gécamines will be entitled to 20% of the total value of the subcontracting of the project and the right to acquire a production volume proportional to its 20% stake in TFM at market conditions and in the respect for Congolese laws,” added the CMOC.
The largest producer of minerals in Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo provides more than 70% of the world's cobalt, an essential metal in particular for the manufacture of batteries used in electronics and electric cars.
The Tenke Fungurume mine is the second largest cobalt mine in the world.
It was producing around 20,000 tonnes of copper and 1,500 tonnes of cobalt per month until 2022, according to company figures.
mediacongo