Cobalt explorers expect higher prices and grades to offset DRC’s new mine laws
Australia-based companies looking for copper and cobalt are ‘comfortable with the high-level terms of Congo’s mining code’
Kinshasa — Junior miners exploring for cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reckon increased prices and the country’s high-grade deposits will offset the added costs of new legislation larger companies have opposed. DRC, the world’s largest source of the metal, this month began implementing an amended mining code that introduces new taxes and increases royalty payments. Miners including Glencore, Randgold Resources and China Molybdenum have criticised the new law and threatened to sue to protect their investments. "We are comfortable with the high-level terms of this mining code," Jason Brewer, a director of three Australia-based companies exploring for copper, cobalt, gold and lithium, said. "It’s now just a question of getting the details associated with how you actually implement that." The average cost of producing cobalt in DRC is 30% lower than the rest of the world, London-based research company CRU Group said in May. That provides "some leeway for miners to absor...
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