China’s CMOC set to boost copper production in DR Congo mine
- September 8, 2023
- Posted by: Quatro Strategies
- Categories: Africa, China, Mining & Metals, Rare Earths & Commodities
China Molybdenum Co., Ltd. (CMOC), a Chinese mining company, is poised to significantly boost its copper production in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to an impressive 600,000 metric tons next year. This substantial increase in output comes after CMOC recently resolved a dispute with the DRC’s state-owned miner, Gecamines, which led to a temporary ban on copper and cobalt exports earlier this year.
To achieve this notable expansion, CMOC plans to enhance its copper production by adding more production lines at the Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) facility. As a result of this initiative, copper output at TFM is projected to reach 450,000 tons in the upcoming year. Furthermore, CMOC aims to generate an additional 150,000 tons of copper at the KFM mine, previously known as Kisanfu, which began production this year.
The Chinese mining giant has not provided an output forecast for cobalt in the upcoming year. However, if successful in its endeavors, CMOC will become one of the world’s top ten copper producers, with ambitions to surpass Glencore and claim the title of the world’s largest cobalt producer.
The DRC is globally recognized as the leading supplier of cobalt and ranks third in copper production, following only Peru and Chile. CMOC has expressed its commitment to continuing the exploration of the enormous resource potential at TFM and KFM as long as the power supply shortage in the DRC is alleviated.
CMOC had previously suspended copper and cobalt exports from the DRC due to a dispute with Congolese authorities. However, the mining company resumed shipments in May 2023 and anticipates completing the de-stocking process by the end of the month, with the transportation of around 240,000 tons of copper currently in stock.
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