THE Democratic Republic of Congo’s state mining company, Gecamines, has secured rights to market a significant portion of copper produced at Glencore’s Kamoto Copper Company operation in the country, said Bloomberg News.
Under the deal, signed last week in Cape Town, Gecamines will tender roughly half of KCC’s output for the next two years, dropping to 30% thereafter. The arrangement mirrors similar agreements Gecamines has concluded with other large Congolese mines in which it holds minority stakes, the newswire said.
Gecamines is expected to market the copper through its trading partnership with commodity house Mercuria Energy Group, which provides financial, logistical and technical support to the state miner’s recently established trading unit.
KCC produced around 190,000 tons of copper last year and is targeting annual output of 300,000 tons, said Bloomberg.
On Wednesday, Glencore separately agreed with Gecamines on a land package that would help KCC reach that goal. Gecamines holds a 25% interest in KCC, with Congo’s government owning a further 5%.
Separately this month, Orion CMC, an investment vehicle backed by the US International Development Finance Corp., announced a preliminary deal to acquire stakes in both of Glencore’s Congolese mines, KCC and Mutanda Mining, as Washington moves to secure critical mineral supplies.
Gecamines has said it aims to trade up to 500,000 tons of copper and 40,000 tons of cobalt annually from assets in which it is a shareholder.
