THE Democratic Republic of Congo is seeking partnerships with mining companies to formalise artisanal digging on their concessions, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.
Citing Entreprise Générale du Cobalt CEO, Eric Kalala, the newswire said the proposal was aimed at reducing illegal incursions on mining properties.
In terms of the proposed partnerships, small parcels of land within mining permits would be designated for use by cooperatives of artisanal diggers. The artisanal miners would then work alongside the concession holders.
“It’s one of the social solutions that we’ve offered to the industrials: to work with us to reduce the pressure,” Kalala said on the sidelines of the Cobalt Institute’s annual congress in Madrid.
Unlicensed artisanal miners, who number in the hundreds of thousands across Congo, have long posed security and reputational risks for major copper and cobalt producers including CMOC Group and Glencore, said Bloomberg News.
EGC signed its first such partnership in February with Eurasian Resources Group and is now in discussions with US company, Virtus Minerals. Virtus acquired several Congolese copper and cobalt permits earlier this year under a US-Congo economic agreement concluded in December, said Bloomberg.
Formalising the relationship between artisanal and industrial mining has historically been complicated by miners’ reluctance to cede ground on valuable concessions or expose themselves to legal liability. New regulations introduced last year, however, allow EGC to enter into formal agreements with mining companies to address the problem.
EGC launched operations in the fourth quarter of 2025 and has since shipped 4,125 tons of cobalt and 1,585 tons of copper from Gecamines-owned sites near Kolwezi. It is currently processing material through Chengtun Congo Ressources, a subsidiary of China’s Chengtun Mining Group, said Bloomberg News.
