DRC pitches copper, cobalt and more to US

The Democratic Republic of Congo has handed the United States a vetted list of mining and processing projects open to American investment, signalling Washington’s most concrete move yet to chip away at China’s grip on critical minerals in Africa.

The shortlist, delivered to U.S. officials last week, spans holdings by state-owned bodies such as Kisenge’s manganese, gold and cassiterite licences, and Gecamines’ Mutoshi copper-cobalt project and a germanium-processing venture, according to two people familiar with the matter quoted by Reuters. The list also includes Sokimo’s four gold permits, Cominiere’s lithium licences and Sakima’s coltan, gold and wolframite assets, they said. 

The projects are intended for U.S. investors to review under a minerals partnership and mark tangible progress in translating peace and investment talks with Congo into leverage over its supply chains, the sources told the news wire.

The move follows a Dec. 4 accord that gives U.S. companies privileged access to DRC’s vast reserves of copper, cobalt, lithium and tantalum, materials critical to electric vehicles, defence systems and advanced electronics. The central African country is the world’s second-largest copper producer and the top supplier of cobalt, a key battery metal.

Turning point

The renewed focus on securing overseas supply comes as U.S. metals policy enters what analysts see as a turning point. President Trump’s reassertion of the Monroe Doctrine as part of the U.S. National Security Strategy marks an inflection point in how markets assess future U.S. metals inventories, BMO Capital Markets commodities analysts Helen Alamos and George Heppel said in a note on Tuesday. 

They said investors are increasingly betting that the large volumes of metal accumulated by the U.S. over the past year, particularly copper, will soon be released, easing tight supply elsewhere and pushing prices lower. However, the analysts cautioned against assuming a drawdown is inevitable, arguing inventories could continue to rise over the months and years ahead, potentially approaching levels last seen during the Cold War.

“The pathway for U.S. metals inventory from here is now probably the single most important debate for the metals complex right now,” Alamos and Heppel said, noting that Trump’s second term has already seen the largest build so far in copper, followed by platinum and palladium.

Congolese officials told Reuters the list went through several rounds of internal vetting and represents Kinshasa’s most direct offer yet to Washington, adding they were not authorized to speak publicly.

China’s hold

Chinese companies such as CMOC, Zijin and Huayou dominate copper and cobalt production in the DRC, where the metals are often mined together, while U.S. firms have historically stayed away because of conflict, corruption and logistical hurdles.

Kinshasa is betting on American capital dilute Chinese dominance after years of expansion. In 2007, Congo granted Chinese miners tax breaks running to 2040 in exchange for $9 billion in promised investment, of which about $6 billion materialized, as Western governments showed little appetite to curb sales to Chinese buyers.

By the time U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, Chinese firms controlled about 80% of Congo’s mining output, including Tenke Fungurume, once U.S.-owned and now the world’s second-largest source of cobalt, operated by CMOC.

The minerals pact sits within a broader U.S.-brokered peace agreement between Congo and neighbouring Rwanda aimed at ending decades of violence in eastern Congo. Under the so-called Washington Accords, the US will help oversee a regional peace process in return for Congo facilitating American investment, even as fighting persists in parts of the country.

Washington has identified 60 critical minerals essential to technologies ranging from weapons systems to wind turbines and semiconductors, many predominantly supplied by China, and the administration has argued that securing alternative supplies is a strategic priority.