Ruashi – one of the bigger copper and cobalt projects in the DRC
Kinshasa, DRC --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 17 November 2008 - The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – currently involved in countering a rebellion in the eastern province of North Kivu – has announced that it intends completing its review of mining contracts soon.
Bloomberg News reports that the DRC – which has a third of the world's cobalt and 4% of all copper – is seeking to boost revenue from mining by improving the terms of contracts with mining companies more in the government's favour. The government is reviewing 61 deals, including those with Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. – the world’s largest publicly-traded copper producer, and AngloGold Ashanti – Africa's biggest gold miner.
“We are not planning delays on the mining review,” deputy mines minister Victor Kasongo told the news agency in a telephone interview from the DRC capital. “We hope to have the mining review over soon,” he said, but he gave no indication of the actual timeframe.
Meanwhile the prestigious Wall Street Journal has reported that decisions about mining rights in the DRC will be postponed because of the fighting. Investment plans are being pushed back by the delay,” the newspaper added.
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