‘No more debate’ on DRC mining code

FTNeil Hume FEBRUARY 6, 2019

There will be “no more debate” on the new mining code in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the country’s secretary-general of mining.Speaking at the Investing in Africa Mining Indaba in Cape Town on Tuesday, Joseph Ikoli said the Ministry of Mines could not negotiate on the code because it had been approved by parliament and was now law.“We must respect it,” he told delegates.The DRC’s new mining code was signed into law last year in spite of opposition from international mining companies, including Glencore and Randgold Resources, which recently merged with Barrick Gold.Under the new code, royalties can rise as high as 10 per cent for minerals deemed “strategic” while a 10-year stability clause that offered protections for existing mining projects was axed.But speaking on the same panel Barrick Gold chief executive Mark Bristow, who has been leading efforts by international miners to have the code changed, insisted the debate was not over.Mr Bristow, who operates a large gold mine in the DRC, said he had met with the new government and was looking forward to “continuing our conversation on what is good for the Congo.”The DRC is Africa’s biggest copper producer and leading supplier of cobalt, a metal used in the batteries that power electric vehicles.Opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi was inaugurated as its new president last month. It is not clear if Mr Tshisekedi will be prepared to amend the code. Income from the mining industry is crucially important to the DRC, a poor country blighted by corruption.

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