US open to minerals deal with Congo

THE US was open to exploring critical minerals partnerships with Congo, the State Department said in a statement to Reuters on Sunday. This was after a Congolese senator contacted US officials to pitch a minerals-for-security deal.Democratic Republic of Congo, which is rich in cobalt, lithium and uranium among other minerals, has been fighting Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who have seized swathes of its territory this year, the newswire said.Talk of a deal with the US – which is also in discussions with Ukraine over a minerals pact – has circulated in Kinshasa for weeks.“The United States is open to discussing partnerships in this sector that are aligned with the Trump Administration’s America First Agenda,” a State Department spokesperson said, noting that Congo held “a significant share of the world’s critical minerals required for advanced technologies.”The US has worked “to boost US private sector investment in the DRC to develop mining resources in a responsible and transparent manner,” the spokesperson said.Kinshasa has not publicly detailed a proposal, instead saying it is seeking diversified partnerships.“There is a desire for us to diversify our partners,” Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said last week, adding there were “daily exchanges” between Congo and the US“If today American investors are interested in coming to the DRC, obviously they will find space … DRC has reserves that are available and it would also be good if American capital could invest here,” he said.“I think it’s certainly something that will pique people’s interest in Washington, and I think it has attracted interest,” said Jason Stearns, a Congo expert at Canada’s Simon Fraser University, told Reuters. Congo’s mineral supply chains are currently dominated by China, he added.The possibility of a minerals accord between Congo and the US emerged last week.Citing a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Bloomberg News said Congo asked for an urgent meeting between its president Felix Tshisekedi and Donald Trump, the US president. The pact that would give American companies access to some of the most coveted minerals for the energy transition, said the newswire.“As the world’s largest supplier of cobalt and a major producer of lithium, tantalum and uranium, the DRC’s resources are integral to US industrial competitiveness and national security,” an Africa-US business group lobbying on Congo’s behalf said in the letter.The post US open to minerals deal with Congo appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com