China Moly to Invest More Than US$1.8 Billion in PhaseⅠof Congo Copper-Cobalt Mine

To meet surging demand for critical metals in the new energy sector, mining giant China Molybdenum Co., Ltd. (China Moly) said it will invest more than US$1.8 billion in the first phase of its copper-cobalt mine - Kisanfu project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is currently one of the world's largest top-tier copper and cobalt mines.

The company announced it will spend US$1.4 billion on engineering, US$161 million on other construction work and US$238 million on reserve costs for the KFM project, whose main products are copper cathodes, crude cobalt hydroxide and small amounts of copper and cobalt sulfide concentrates.

The miner acquired a 95% stake in the KFM project in December 2020 through its unit KFM Holdings for US$550 million. In April 2021, it sold a 25% stake in the unit to Chinese power battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology’s Ningbo Brunp CATL New Energy for US$137.5 million.  The project, which began preparations in March last year, will start production in the first half of next year and is expected to provide an average of 90,000 tons of copper and 30,000 tons of cobalt per year when it reaches full capacity.

China Moly added that prices for the project's main products have not yet been determined, as overseas investments are heavily influenced by the political and economic environment, policies, laws and regulations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Congo Copper-Cobalt Mine - Tenke Fungurume project will also be operational in 2023. The company is already the world's largest cobalt producer with a total capacity of 5.6 million tons, equivalent to 22% of the world's total capacity, and will also be the largest supplier of cobalt, the cathode material for the ternary batteries used in new energy vehicles. The Tenke Fungurume project involves mining the Tenke oxide ore deposit and its treatment in a conventional hydrometallurgical plant to recover copper and cobalt.

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