April 24, 2018 / 2:52 AM / 2 days ago Shares in cobalt miner...

April 24, 2018 / 2:52 AM / 2 days ago
[FONT=knowledge-medium]Shares in cobalt miner Katanga slump on legal threat in DRC[/FONT]​

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[FONT=freight-book][COLOR=#717375]Reuters Staff[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=knowledge-regular][SIZE=11px][FONT=knowledge-medium][COLOR=#f37021]2 Min Read[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
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(Reuters) - Shares in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) copper and cobalt miner Katanga Mining Ltd lost nearly a third of their value Monday after it said the central African country’s state-owned mining company had taken steps to dissolve one of its units.
Katanga said late on Sunday that Gécamines had begun legal proceedings against Kamoto Copper Company, which is 25 percent owned by the state-owned miner and 75 percent by Katanga, due to an ongoing capital shortfall at Kamoto. A court hearing is scheduled for May 8 in the DRC.
Katanga, which is 86-percent owned by global miner Glencore Plc, is ramping up production in the DRC that could see it become the world’s biggest producer of cobalt, one of the hottest commodities of the past year.

The DRC produces nearly two-thirds of the world’s cobalt, a byproduct of its copper mines that is a critical ingredient in batteries for electric vehicles, a market that is expected to expand rapidly over the next decade.​

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