THE Democratic Republic of Congo has indicated it will approve the purchase of copper and cobalt miner Chemaf SA by American company Virtus Minerals Inc, advancing a broader partnership between Washington and Kinshasa, said Bloomberg News.
Mines Minister Louis Watum notified Virtus last week that the government was giving the go-ahead to the acquisition, said the newswire citing people familiar with the matter.
Chemaf was placed up for sale in 2023 after encountering financial difficulties during construction of one of the world’s largest cobalt mines.
The approval is one of the first significant tests of a partnership signed in December, under which Washington secured preferential access for US investors to Congolese resources including copper, cobalt, lithium and tantalum, said Bloomberg. Congo has become central to the Trump administration’s efforts to secure critical metals supplies and reduce dependence on China, it said.
Virtus, led by veterans of the US military and intelligence services, agreed to pay $30m for Chemaf’s equity and has committed to capital investment of $750m to revive stalled projects, CEO Phil Braun previously told Bloomberg.
The firm is also assuming Chemaf’s debts to creditors including Trafigura Group, which arranged a $600m loan in 2022 to fund construction of the flagship Mutoshi mine and expansion of the Etoile operations.
The government has wielded particular leverage over the transaction because state miner Gecamines owns a key permit Chemaf leases for Mutoshi. A previous sale to a Chinese state-owned firm collapsed after Kinshasa withheld the necessary approvals, said Bloomberg News.
