Gecamines is looking to enhance its mining portfolio by acquiring copper and cobalt assets. Credit: Alexa from Pixabay.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s state miner, Gecamines, has expressed a firm intention to acquire certain copper and cobalt assets from ERG in the DRC, reported Reuters. 

This move is part of Gecamines’ strategy to reclaim projects managed by partners and to bolster its reserves of metals crucial for the green energy transition. 

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Gecamines chairman Robert Lukama was cited by the news agency as saying that the company has funds to finance the acquisition of three assets from ERG.  

ERG, a Luxembourg-based company with a 40% stake held by the Kazakhstan government, operates several assets in the DRC. 

These include the Frontier mine, Comide, Metalkol, Boss Mining, and various development and near-production projects. 

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In an interview, Lukama said: “We have a firm proposal and we can confirm our proposal. We showed our seriousness and we showed that we have the means to buy the assets.” 

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The offer from Gecamines is not contingent on the development stage or condition of the assets.  

In 2023, Gecamines announced its intention to leverage its joint venture shareholdings to secure purchase and trading rights for copper and cobalt. 

Meanwhile, ERG is engaged in discussions with DRC authorities to resume operations at its Boss Mining site, which were suspended in June 2023 over worries of mine waste entering local rivers. 

These concerns were exacerbated after floods in the DRC in March 2023. 

The ERG Boss project is expected to have an average annual production capacity of 21,600 tonnes (t) of copper and 3,600t of cobalt hydroxide.