WHY the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)?

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is home to a variety of key metals and minerals, including cobalt and copper, lithium and the 3T’s (tin, tungsten and tantalum), all of which are forecast to see rapid demand increases as the battery metals market grows.

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More than 70 % of the world’s cobalt is produced in the DRC, and 15 to 30 % of the Congolese cobalt is produced by artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). The world's increasing demand for battery metals presents a unique opportunity to develop a model for responsible ASM cobalt mining and beneficiation.

The DRC's mining sector “has been given a boost, owing to a surge in demand for battery metals…The DRC’s mining industry has been the beneficiary of investments totalling more than US$30-billion over the past 15 to 20 years. Primarily a high-grade copper- and cobalt-producing country,” Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking mining and resources finances co-head Nivaash Singh