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DRC: Will Prime Minister Lukonde break the deadlock with China Moly?

By China Global South Project

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Posted on August 22, 2022 08:29

The Tenke Fungurume mine (TFM) in the DRC, one of the country’s largest cobalt and copper mines, is now at the centre of a bitter dispute among its owners. Who can break the deadlock?

Christian Géraud Neema Byamungu, the Francophone editor at the China Global South Project, worked as a project manager for a local mining company in the DRC and later as a consultant on good governance and policy advocacy. He unpicks the fight to control one of Africa’s most prized mines, key to the green industrial revolution.

What are the politics behind these talks that we’re not seeing?

Geraud Neema: There is a stalemate between the parties namely CMOC [China Molybdenum Company Limited] on one side and Gecamines executive, TFM temporary administrator, and the revision committee on the other. Through political allies, they have tried to further their claims and agendas in the dispute. And as it stands, CMOC faces increasing and unexpected difficulties in exporting its copper and cobalt. Gecamines and the court-appointed administrator still don’t have access to TFM mines.

Faced with

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