AVZ Discussion 2022

[cruiser51]

Someone in the DRC not happy with the Chinois...

​

Sun, Jun 19, 2022 page10​

DRC miner may take huge cobalt project from CMOC​

Bloomberg

A shareholder dispute over one of the world’s biggest copper and cobalt mines is heating up in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after state miner Gecamines SA threatened to block exports or even take the mine away from its partner, China Molybdenum Co (CMOC, 洛陽欒川鉬業).

Gecamines, which owns 20 percent of the Tenke Fungurume mine’s holding company, accused CMOC of manipulating the project’s finances and said it owes as much as US$5 billion in payments.

The disagreement has extended to who is actually running the mine: A Congolese court appointed a temporary administrator to manage the holding company, while the shareholders sort out their differences, but CMOC said nothing has changed.

The administrator, Sage Ngoie Mbayo, said he now controls the company’s bank accounts, but was last week blocked from entering the mine site by Congolese soldiers.

Things were set to come to a head on Thursday at the first meeting between the shareholders and Ngoie at Tenke Fungurume Mining SA’s (TFM) offices in the Congolese mining hub of Lubumbashi, but while Gecamines’ top two executives were there, CMOC representatives did not attend.
Gecamines chief executive officer Bester-Hilaire Ntambwe Ngoy Kabongo and his deputy, Leon Mwine Kabiena, said they are prepared to take more drastic action, including effectively revoking CMOC’s ownership of the project by dissolving the partnership.
“If it continues like this, we are going to ask for the dissolution,” the CEO said.

The two executives became increasingly agitated during the meeting, which lasted two hours in a boardroom surrounded by otherwise-empty company offices, while armed guards stood outside.

“What CMOC is doing now is stealing, it’s cheating, it’s covering-up,” Mwine said, adding that they were “liars,” “pillagers,” “bandits” and “criminals.”

CMOC did not immediately answer questions on the meeting or Gecamines’ statements.

The company previously said the mine is operating as usual without any change in management, and production is beating targets.

In its annual report last year, CMOC said communication with Gecamines was “complex and dynamic,” and it planned to engage an independent third party to verify disagreements over reserve estimates “and resolve the differences through fair and impartial negotiation.”

Any disruption to operations or exports from Tenke Fungurume could send ripples through global metals markets. The DRC is one of the world’s top producers of copper and by far the largest supplier of the key battery mineral cobalt.

Tenke Fungurume alone accounts for about 14 percent of world cobalt production, according to calculations by Bloomberg using figures from Darton Commodities, and the ore body is expected to last for decades.



CMOC Group Limited (“CMOC” or China Molybdenum) was created in 1969 and after mixed ownership reforms in 2004 and 2014, has become a private holding company with state-owned capital participation.

Looks like the DRC is having fun with another Chinese company, which believes the DRC is really Chinese.

 

[cruiser51]

Someone in the DRC not happy with the Chinois...

​

Sun, Jun 19, 2022 page10​

DRC miner may take huge cobalt project from CMOC​

Bloomberg

A shareholder dispute over one of the world’s biggest copper and cobalt mines is heating up in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after state miner Gecamines SA threatened to block exports or even take the mine away from its partner, China Molybdenum Co (CMOC, 洛陽欒川鉬業).

Gecamines, which owns 20 percent of the Tenke Fungurume mine’s holding company, accused CMOC of manipulating the project’s finances and said it owes as much as US$5 billion in payments.

The disagreement has extended to who is actually running the mine: A Congolese court appointed a temporary administrator to manage the holding company, while the shareholders sort out their differences, but CMOC said nothing has changed.

The administrator, Sage Ngoie Mbayo, said he now controls the company’s bank accounts, but was last week blocked from entering the mine site by Congolese soldiers.

Things were set to come to a head on Thursday at the first meeting between the shareholders and Ngoie at Tenke Fungurume Mining SA’s (TFM) offices in the Congolese mining hub of Lubumbashi, but while Gecamines’ top two executives were there, CMOC representatives did not attend.
Gecamines chief executive officer Bester-Hilaire Ntambwe Ngoy Kabongo and his deputy, Leon Mwine Kabiena, said they are prepared to take more drastic action, including effectively revoking CMOC’s ownership of the project by dissolving the partnership.
“If it continues like this, we are going to ask for the dissolution,” the CEO said.

The two executives became increasingly agitated during the meeting, which lasted two hours in a boardroom surrounded by otherwise-empty company offices, while armed guards stood outside.

“What CMOC is doing now is stealing, it’s cheating, it’s covering-up,” Mwine said, adding that they were “liars,” “pillagers,” “bandits” and “criminals.”

CMOC did not immediately answer questions on the meeting or Gecamines’ statements.

The company previously said the mine is operating as usual without any change in management, and production is beating targets.

In its annual report last year, CMOC said communication with Gecamines was “complex and dynamic,” and it planned to engage an independent third party to verify disagreements over reserve estimates “and resolve the differences through fair and impartial negotiation.”

Any disruption to operations or exports from Tenke Fungurume could send ripples through global metals markets. The DRC is one of the world’s top producers of copper and by far the largest supplier of the key battery mineral cobalt.

Tenke Fungurume alone accounts for about 14 percent of world cobalt production, according to calculations by Bloomberg using figures from Darton Commodities, and the ore body is expected to last for decades.



CMOC Group Limited (“CMOC” or China Molybdenum) was created in 1969 and after mixed ownership reforms in 2004 and 2014, has become a private holding company with state-owned capital participation.

Looks like the DRC is having fun with another Chinese company, which believes the DRC is really Chinese.

Africa: China Looks to Africa in Race for Lithium​

4 JUNE 2022

By Kate Bartlett

Johannesburg, South Africa — It is the new gold rush, and China is leading the hunt as prices surge. Only it's not gold everyone's looking for, it's lithium. Many say the future of electric vehicle production and, more broadly, combatting climate change, depend on the rare metal.
Prices for the "green metal" have seen an almost 500% increase in the past year, according to Bloomberg.

Sung Choi, a metals analyst at BloombergNEF, told VOA, "The cost of lithium has risen because virtually all automakers have jumped onto producing electric vehicles."
Electric car tsar and Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the "insane" costs meant "Tesla might actually have to get into the mining & refining directly at scale."

That is exactly what China has been doing, and its companies are looking to make sure they don't run out of the metal needed to make lithium-ion batteries - which China, which has the largest EV market in the world, produces 80% of globally.

While more than half of global lithium resources are in South America and Australia, China is scouring the world for new sources of the metal, including in the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau and elsewhere, but increasingly in Africa.

"Africa has recently been in the spotlight with its ample resources in metals," Choi said.

Shenzen-headquartered Chinese conglomerate BYD is in talks to buy six new lithium mines in unspecified African countries, Reuters reported, citing Shanghai government supported publication The Paper. Repeated emails to the company from VOA requesting details of the deals went unanswered.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chinese mining giant Zijin is in a legal battle with Australia's AVZ minerals over control of the Manono mine - possibly the world's biggest lithium deposit -- in the resource-rich country's east.

In Zimbabwe, too, home to large untapped deposits of the resource, China is buying up mines. In a major deal, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt is investing $300 million in its recently purchased Arcadia Lithium mine outside Harare, according to Reuters. The money will be used to construct a plant with a processing capacity of 400,000 metric tons of lithium concentrate a year.

Shenzhen Chengxin Lithium Group and Sinomine Resource Group are just two of the other companies that have invested in lithium in Zimbabwe in the past year.

The Zimbabwean government has welcomed the investment. Spokeswoman Monica Mutsvangwa told VOA via WhatsApp that the economically unstable country, which is under Western sanctions, plans to rebrand itself as a major player in "the blooming lithium sector."

"We aim to fill the vacuum being created by the displacement of fossil fuel engines by electric batteries," she said.

In an apparent reference to the West, she added in an email to VOA, "The battery storage industry of the ushering New Electric Vehicle Era has shunted you by the wayside ... Triple digit figures in the mergers and acquisition of Arcadia Lithium, Buhera Lithium deposits and Bikita Minerals have shunted you aside."

Joe Lowry, founder of advisory firm Global Lithium, told VOA that Western lithium producers had been taken by surprise regarding the growth of the EV industry and therefore the rush for lithium.

"Lithium has been a tiny niche market for 7 decades. The global market for lithium chemicals didn't reach a billion dollars until 2015. The industry was not prepared for electrification of transportation," he said by email.

"You can build a huge battery factory like Tesla does in a couple years. It takes up to ten years to bring a fully integrated lithium chemicals project online," he said.

Meanwhile, "Chinese producers invested ahead of the curve in resources outside China ... (and) are looking at Africa," Lowry said.

The U.S., too, knows the importance of Africa. General Stephen Townsend, AFRICOM commander, told the House Appropriations Committee in April, "Africa possesses vast untapped energy deposits ... (needed to) transition to clean energy, including mobile phones, jet engines, electric hybrid vehicles and missile guidance systems."

"The winners and losers of the 21st century global economy may be determined by whether these resources are available in an open and transparent marketplace or are inaccessible due to predatory practices of competitors," he added.

And while some of the key components for EVs come from Africa, the market for the finished product - made overseas - is still minuscule on the continent. The mines provide jobs, but critics say locals don't see enough trickle-down from the multimillion-dollar projects.

Last year, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi said that people living in areas with mines were "still languishing in misery," while foreign multinationals prospered. He has launched a review of his predecessor's "minerals-for-infrastructure" contracts with Chinese mining companies.

 

[Frank]

Proof of win-win Sino-Congolese cooperation: Chinese mining companies paid 1.3 billion USD to the DRC in 2021!

The Minister Counselor at the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Wang Hailong, recently said in an interview with Radio Okapi, that Chinese mining companies paid the DRC an amount of $1.3 billion USD in 2021.

Mr. Wang explained that this investment has greatly increased mining production in the DRC, arguing that from 2016 to 2021, annual copper production increased from 842,000 tons to 1,800,000 tons, more than doubling in just 5 years and of this volume, 70% is produced by Chinese companies, he revealed.

"We can also declare it loud and clear, after the infrastructures developed under colonization by Belgium and its partners, those of China since independence in 1960 are the most attractive and useful that can come from a single country. “, he said.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Sino-Congolese relations and cooperation in this year 2022, the Chinese achievements begun with the symbolism of the People's Palace and the Martyrs' Stadium - perimeter where the most imposing and important cultural complex is erected.

Of Central Africa – are characterized with different infrastructures in Health, Education, Energy, Transport and Communication Channels, Housing, Environment, and this throughout the national territory. Evidenced by the Sino-Congolese contract carried by SICOMINES S.A.

Here is the full interview:

Radio Okapi: Mr. Wang, hello.

The DRC produced almost 1,800,000 tons of copper last year.

In your presentation, you said that China had a lot to do with it.

What ?

Mr. Wang: Yes, exactly.

Over the past three years, Chinese companies have invested more than $1 billion in the Congolese mining sector.

This has greatly increased mining production in the DRC.

From 2016 to 2021, annual copper production in the DRC increased from 842,000 tonnes to 1,800,000 tonnes, more than doubling in just a few years and of this volume, 70% is produced by Chinese companies.

Thanks to the Convention with China, the DRC has once again become the world's third largest producer of copper.

It has regained its leading position as a mineral producer with state-of-the-art equipment and advanced technologies brought in by Chinese on its own.

When you really paint this picture, is it just to tell us that the illegal mining that is carried out by certain Chinese nationals in the eastern part of the country is not at all representative of Sino-Congolese cooperation?

Yes.

As a Chinese saying goes “a tree cannot hide the forest”.

Compared to 20,000 Chinese nationals settled in the DRC, those who are supposed to be in an irregular state are a very very small minority.

The vast majority of Chinese companies and nationals working in the DRC comply well with Congolese laws and regulations.

As requested by the Chinese government, they make a great contribution to the economic and social development of the DRC.

For example, taxes paid in 2021 by Chinese companies reached $1.3 billion, or 16% of state budget revenue, not to mention other royalties or dividends, whether in materials or finance. What reigns in our relations is friendship and “win-win” cooperation.

When this crisis on illegal exploitation broke out, your country, through the embassy, undertook to sanction Chinese nationals who were involved in this exploitation.

What about today ?

We made calls to these people to give up or to regularize themselves.

I can tell you today that in the province of South Kivu, among the six to seven companies cited by the local authorities, there are almost zero left, perhaps one more who remains there to settle the back procedures.

*So you are committing today to ensuring that when you have nationals who are involved in mining activities, whether in the East or the West of the country, that this is really done according to the requirements of the law …

Yes.

Indeed, the Chinese Government always asks companies and nationals settled here to comply with Congolese laws and regulations.

To come back to Chinese investments, you said that today the DRC is the third or fourth African country where China invests the most.

In which sectors is China investing today in the DRC, apart from mining?

Apart from the mines, Chinese companies are investing.

I would like to cite as an example the land port of Kasumbalese, a project with Chinese capital of around 230 million dollars which has promoted the import and export trade of the DRC.

I believe this list of investments will continue to grow, as many companies are already committing to investing more.

In view of this, what can be the prospects for collaboration between the two countries ?

There are many prospects for cooperation ahead of us.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between China and the DRC.

We will take advantage of this historic event to bring our relations and our collaboration to a new level.

www.mediacongo.net

 

[Remark]

Proof of win-win Sino-Congolese cooperation: Chinese mining companies paid 1.3 billion USD to the DRC in 2021!


View attachment 9665

The Minister Counselor at the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Wang Hailong, recently said in an interview with Radio Okapi, that Chinese mining companies paid the DRC an amount of $1.3 billion USD in 2021.

Mr. Wang explained that this investment has greatly increased mining production in the DRC, arguing that from 2016 to 2021, annual copper production increased from 842,000 tons to 1,800,000 tons, more than doubling in just 5 years and of this volume, 70% is produced by Chinese companies, he revealed.

"We can also declare it loud and clear, after the infrastructures developed under colonization by Belgium and its partners, those of China since independence in 1960 are the most attractive and useful that can come from a single country. “, he said.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Sino-Congolese relations and cooperation in this year 2022, the Chinese achievements begun with the symbolism of the People's Palace and the Martyrs' Stadium - perimeter where the most imposing and important cultural complex is erected.

Of Central Africa – are characterized with different infrastructures in Health, Education, Energy, Transport and Communication Channels, Housing, Environment, and this throughout the national territory. Evidenced by the Sino-Congolese contract carried by SICOMINES S.A.

Here is the full interview:

Radio Okapi: Mr. Wang, hello.

The DRC produced almost 1,800,000 tons of copper last year.

In your presentation, you said that China had a lot to do with it.

What ?

Mr. Wang: Yes, exactly.

Over the past three years, Chinese companies have invested more than $1 billion in the Congolese mining sector.

This has greatly increased mining production in the DRC.

From 2016 to 2021, annual copper production in the DRC increased from 842,000 tonnes to 1,800,000 tonnes, more than doubling in just a few years and of this volume, 70% is produced by Chinese companies.

Thanks to the Convention with China, the DRC has once again become the world's third largest producer of copper.

It has regained its leading position as a mineral producer with state-of-the-art equipment and advanced technologies brought in by Chinese on its own.

When you really paint this picture, is it just to tell us that the illegal mining that is carried out by certain Chinese nationals in the eastern part of the country is not at all representative of Sino-Congolese cooperation?

Yes.

As a Chinese saying goes “a tree cannot hide the forest”.

Compared to 20,000 Chinese nationals settled in the DRC, those who are supposed to be in an irregular state are a very very small minority.

The vast majority of Chinese companies and nationals working in the DRC comply well with Congolese laws and regulations.

As requested by the Chinese government, they make a great contribution to the economic and social development of the DRC.

For example, taxes paid in 2021 by Chinese companies reached $1.3 billion, or 16% of state budget revenue, not to mention other royalties or dividends, whether in materials or finance. What reigns in our relations is friendship and “win-win” cooperation.

When this crisis on illegal exploitation broke out, your country, through the embassy, undertook to sanction Chinese nationals who were involved in this exploitation.

What about today ?

We made calls to these people to give up or to regularize themselves.

I can tell you today that in the province of South Kivu, among the six to seven companies cited by the local authorities, there are almost zero left, perhaps one more who remains there to settle the back procedures.

*So you are committing today to ensuring that when you have nationals who are involved in mining activities, whether in the East or the West of the country, that this is really done according to the requirements of the law …

Yes.

Indeed, the Chinese Government always asks companies and nationals settled here to comply with Congolese laws and regulations.

To come back to Chinese investments, you said that today the DRC is the third or fourth African country where China invests the most.

In which sectors is China investing today in the DRC, apart from mining?

Apart from the mines, Chinese companies are investing.

I would like to cite as an example the land port of Kasumbalese, a project with Chinese capital of around 230 million dollars which has promoted the import and export trade of the DRC.

I believe this list of investments will continue to grow, as many companies are already committing to investing more.

In view of this, what can be the prospects for collaboration between the two countries ?

There are many prospects for cooperation ahead of us.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between China and the DRC.

We will take advantage of this historic event to bring our relations and our collaboration to a new level.

www.mediacongo.net



View attachment 9666


View attachment 9667

The Chinese are getting a little nervous maybe?

 

[DiscoDanNZ]

Bragging that they've paid 1.3B when I would safely guess guess it was supposed to be at least double and they skimmed it

1.3B paid but zero of the promised infrastructure on top of it

 

[wombat74]

What is the score on the other 15% BS claim ? I'm guessing that will be put to bed when the ML gets issued next week .

 

[marksmann007]

What is the score on the other 15% BS claim ? I'm guessing that will be put to bed when the ML gets issued next week .

I too would like to hear more about the other 15% BS claim.
Unlike the Zijin BS claim, I can’t see how we can trade until that has been officially put to bed, once ML gets issued I’d expect it to be once again officially confirmed that 15% we legally bought is ours.

 

[Frank]

The Chinese are getting a little nervous maybe?

Sung Choi, a metals analyst at Bloomberg, told VOA,

"The cost of lithium has risen because virtually all automakers have jumped onto producing electric vehicles."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the "insane" costs meant "Tesla might actually have to get into the mining & refining directly at scale."

That is exactly what China has been doing, and its companies are looking to make sure they don't run out of the metal needed to make lithium-ion batteries - which China, which has the largest EV market in the world, produces 80% of globally.

While more than half of global lithium resources are in South America and Australia, China is scouring the world for new sources of the metal, including in the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau and elsewhere, but increasingly in Africa.

"Africa has recently been in the spotlight with its ample resources in metals," Choi said.

*Unfortunately, AVZ /DRC are caught between a Spodumene Rock and a Hard Hat atm

You need investment and investors, you need offtakes and shit loads of $$$$$ to get a Mine to Production

You also need a lot of i's dotted & t's crossed in different languages along the way

What you Don't need is a "Fly in the Oitment" a "Spanner in the Works"

It seems when dealing with China, You're damned if you do and damned if you don't

The DRC aren't going to Cut their Nose off to Spite their Face, Kill the Goose that lays the Golden Egg Noodles

Especially when the DRC are so dependent on China and vise versa atm

"We can also declare it loud and clear, after the infrastructures developed under colonization by Belgium and its partners, those of China since independence in 1960 are the most attractive and useful that can come from a single country. “, he said.

For example, taxes paid in 2021 by Chinese companies reached $1.3 billion, or 16% of state budget revenue, not to mention other royalties or dividends, whether in materials or finance.

What reigns in our relations is friendship and “win-win” cooperation

Hopefully

Felix / DRC know what they're doing and dealing with corruption with Jules Alingete Key on the case

Food for thought

 

[Samus]

I too would like to hear more about the other 15% BS claim.
Unlike the Zijin BS claim, I can’t see how we can trade until that has been officially put to bed, once ML gets issued I’d expect it to be once again officially confirmed that 15% we legally bought is ours.

Agree mate, that whole side if this ordeal is bullshit and more of a concern in the overall scheme of things.

 

[cruiser51]

Agree mate, that whole side if this ordeal is bullshit and more of a concern in the overall scheme of things.

China's theme song.

 

[marksmann007]

 

[JAG]

 

[JAG]

 

[JAG]

 

[JAG]

I usually would not do this but M8 is one of the greatest supporters........

 

[Frederick Will]

I'm happy for you and the Mrs Jag - it looks like you might keep your nut after all

 

[Dijon101]

"Snacks" has got to be my word of the year for 2022

 

[Dazmac66]

I just read the government here said they paid $25m to put an aboriginal flag on the Sydney harbour bridge. We need IGF to see how many "snacks" were involved in that one. Governments all over the world are full of total crooks, we can only hope karma comes knocking on all their doorsteps real soon

Struth! I saw a headline about that the other day and thought it was $25000 . Surely not 25 million, there are Aboriginal people living in poverty all around this country!

 

[BEISHA]

I just read the government here said they paid $25m to put an aboriginal flag on the Sydney harbour bridge. We need IGF to see how many "snacks" were involved in that one. Governments all over the world are full of total crooks, we can only hope karma comes knocking on all their doorsteps real soon

$25m to bolt a pole on top of the Sydney Harbour bridge.........

My goodness, thats inflation on steroids !!

 

[Retrobyte]

I just read the government here said they paid $25m to put an aboriginal flag on the Sydney harbour bridge. We need IGF to see how many "snacks" were involved in that one. Governments all over the world are full of total crooks, we can only hope karma comes knocking on all their doorsteps real soon

That figure astounded me too, but it won't be cheap to put another 60m long flag pole on top of the bridge that is strong enough to withstand the winds and the elements. I would believe maybe $1m, but $25m is mind boggling, even with choppers doing the delivery and positioning.