DRC-US Deal on Critical Minerals: Kinshasa Put to the Test of Good Mining Governance and Washington's Transparency
The United States faces an unprecedented economic and national security challenge: securing its supply of critical minerals without relying on foreign adversaries.
Obtaining them in considerable quantities, with a view to reducing its dependence primarily on China, is therefore becoming an absolute must.
This justifies the strategic partnership around these minerals currently being finalized between the US and the DRC; this agreement aims to guarantee a secure supply of essential resources, notably cobalt, copper, coltan, and lithium, in exchange for securing eastern DRC.
However, the said agreement puts Kinshasa to the test of good mining governance and transparency demanded by Washington, which involves American private companies.
The US needs for strategic and critical minerals are more than evident.
The executive order aimed at strengthening national security and economic resilience through targeted measures on these minerals strongly reaffirms this.
It also reveals the "Trumpist" vision of an Africa rooted in shared economic opportunities, not conflict; a reference made in particular to the thirty-year war in the DRC, a country abundant in these minerals and a coveted commodity like no other.
Therefore, the minerals-for-security-and-development agreement between Washington and Kinshasa, which is currently being finalized and is expected to boost the peace agreement between Congo and Rwanda, is timely.
In this context, the United States is encouraging American private sector investors to target the DRC to exploit the aforementioned minerals, which are so desperately needed by its high-tech industry.
In other words, the Trump administration is, through this approach, supporting American private sector companies, for which it is clearing the way, to loosen their purse strings to invest in the Congolese mining sector, naturally through Congolese private companies with which they will establish partnerships.
With a view to achieving a win-win partnership, the US President's Senior Advisor for Africa, Mr. Boulos, has been unapologetic in emphasizing the values that must govern this strategic partnership: good mining governance and transparency.
This is thus putting the Congolese government to the test, some of whose members tirelessly excel in a risky approach to public management to satisfy their narrow interests.
As it appears, the path is clear and there are no other alternative plans.
This amounts to saying that, within the framework of this deal, agreements like those previously signed with Primera Gold and Primera Metal, which, after making headlines, failed, should be discouraged and cannot be repeated.
In this case, mining concessions properly belonging to third parties cannot be taken and sold for the benefit of the deal, or attempts to dispossess the owners of mining titles by tampering with the Mining Registry (CAMI).
The case of Australian AVZ Metals, currently doing business with American KoBold Metals for the development of the Manono lithium deposit in the Haut Lomami province of the former Katanga, should serve as a lesson, along with the AVZ Metals-Comminière dispute, the outcome of which is now known before the Court of Arbitration.
Mining titles were at the center of this dispute, namely Comminière's obtaining the extension of PR 13359 in its name from CAMI, as well as the spin-off of said PR, which formerly belonged to AVZ Metals.
The Americans are thus calling for good governance and transparency, among other things, regarding the management of mining titles.
However, while they are responsible for the specifications of their private companies within the framework of this deal, the Congolese private mining companies with which the Tshisekedi government will work to implement this agreement remain, so far, an enigma.
However, they should be inventoried and prepared to play effectively to ensure that Congo benefits from this partnership.
In truth, the Trump administration seems to have no time to waste.
Things are surely moving forward, according to Mr. Boulos, who revealed on Thursday, May 15, that the preliminary draft of the peace agreement has been sent to Presidents Tshisekedi and Kagame, with whom he spoke by telephone.
Furthermore, Robert Friendland, founder and co-founder of Ivanhoe, whose company is the largest mining investor in the Lobito Corridor and plays an increasingly central role in shaping mineral supply chains across Africa and beyond, met this week with U.S. President Donald Trump and the Saudi Crown Prince in Riyadh.
Undoubtedly, the Congo issue was discussed during this high-level meeting in Saudi Arabia, which underscored the global focus on strategic mineral corridors and infrastructure investment.
As a reminder, the Lobito Corridor boasts of being ready to connect Africa to the rest of the world.
In the wake of this, the Rwanda-based mining group Trinity Metals signed a letter of intent this past week with the American company Nathan Trotter,
one of the leading American companies in tin refining and distribution.
This initiative represents a first step toward developing a supply chain for this mineral to the United States.
Claiming to own Rwanda's largest tin mine, which contains more than 54,000 tons of ore in Rutongo, north of Kigali, Trinity Metals, majority-owned by Dublin-based Techmet, had already approached the United States last year by securing a $3.8 million fund from the DFC, a U.S. government development finance agency.
He believes he will hold the upper hand in the sector in the future, which appears to be a propaganda move, given that Alphamin Resources, with its Bisie mine in Walikale, produced 17,324 tons of tin in 2024, compared to 12,568 tons in 2023.
The forecast is for 17,500 tons in 2025 following the inconveniences experienced with the rebel attacks, compared to an initial 20,000 tons.
These three years of production from Alphamin Resources represent the reserves of the Rwandan mine in Rutongo.
The unrest in Rwanda signifies that another era is coming.
The Tshisekedi government, as well as Congolese companies, must be alert and vigilant to avoid being caught out and finding themselves in a vice.