[miningmx.com] — A PROPOSED audit by Democratic Republic of Congo’s state mining firm of its joint venture partnerships should not be mistaken for a new mining contract review, the governor of Congo’s minerals-rich Katanga province said on Thursday.
The central Africa state holds some of the world’s largest reserves of cobalt, copper and other minerals but fears over contract security after a 2008 to 2010 mining review and rebel activity in the eastern provinces have held back investment.
“There will be no further revisitation (of contracts). I have consulted with the president (Joseph Kabila),” Moise Katumbi told a mining conference in Katanga’s capital of Lubumbashi.
“We went backwards on investment, and now we can not afford as a responsible government to have a second review (of mining contracts),” Katumbi said. “So do not stop your investments, you should continue to invest.”
State firm Gecamines told Reuters last month it would audit existing joint venture deals in an effort to raise cash for a $930m expansion – a plan that could put it on a collision course with partners like Freeport McMoRan Glencore-owned Katanga Mining and ENRC .
Katumbi said the audit should not be confused with a full-blown contract review. “When you are in a partnership with someone, the partner has a right to request an audit. It is quite normal,” he said.
Congo embarked on its controversial mining contract review process in 2008 in which more than 60 deals were renegotiated over two years and in which Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals was stripped of its $750m KMT project. First Quantum is seeking international arbitration.
The review process shook investor confidence in the the central African state, which in 2011 placed 175th out of 183 countries in the World Bank’s doing business rankings.
