JOSEPH Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is thought to have until Thursday (February 22) to reject or sign into law proposed changes to the country’s mining code, according to a report by Reuters which was republished in Businesslive.
If Kabila does nothing, the mining code will be enacted by default, said the news agency which added that the Congo president is given 15 days of being handed proposed legislation in order to reject it. It is unclear what day the president received the bill from parliament but mines minister Martin Kabwelulu said at a conference on February 7 that the code was “with the president”, said Reuters.
This would give Kabila until Thursday at the latest to act. Asked about this, Kambila told Reuters: “The law has not been promulgated. That’s all I can tell you.”
The code could see royalties on cobalt, a vital component in electric car batteries, increase five-fold to 10%, and it removes a stability clause in the current law protecting miners from changes to the fiscal and customs regime for 10 years, said Reuters. The DRC is the world’s biggest source of cobalt, of which its output jumped 15.5% last year to 73,940 tonnes.
Companies including Randgold Resources, China Molybdenum, Ivanhoe – the Robert Friedland company – and Glencore have jointly lobbied Kabila not to have the mining code signed into law.
