Latest news with #KoBoldMetals
South China Morning Post
15 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China faces off against US for domination of the DR Congo's critical minerals industry
After years of largely unchallenged control over the DR Congo's critical minerals, China now faces growing US competition – a battle that Beijing is determined to win. The US reportedly pressured the Democratic Republic of Congo last year to block a Chinese firm from acquiring Chemaf Resources. Now, a US consortium – including firms led by ex-military executives – has bid for the operator of the Etoile copper-cobalt mine. Meanwhile, KoBold Metals, backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos , secured a deal with the DR Congo to explore the Manono lithium deposit, despite an ongoing legal dispute with Australia 's AVZ Minerals. The deals come shortly after a US-brokered 'minerals-for-security' agreement between the DR Congo and Rwanda, signed last month to help end the decades-long conflict in the eastern Congo. It aims to secure peace and stability, and in return the United States and its companies will gain access to critical minerals essential for the green energy transition and advanced technologies. However, Joseph Cihunda, who teaches law at the University of Kinshasa, said the Congolese government was trying to balance relations to avoid becoming a battleground between China and the US, even if Washington sought to escalate competition. 'Even in Congolese public opinion, they do not want such a confrontation,' Cihunda said.
Times
16 hours ago
- Business
- Times
Tech titans Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates team up in race for minerals
A company backed by the billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos is to challenge China in the global race for the minerals that power modern technology. KoBold Metals is to begin mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is estimated by the US to have up to $24 trillion of largely untapped resources. The firm has secured rights to mine one of the world's largest hard-rock lithium deposits, in a region that has been fought over for decades. The venture will be a test of President Trump's pro-business foreign policy and his pledge to restore peace to an area overrun with militia and troops from Congo's neighbours. A Rwanda-backed rebel group has seized a swathe of land there, including its biggest cities, displacing hundreds of thousands of people. A peace deal signed in Washington last month between the DRC and Rwanda to end the fighting was hailed as historic by Trump. Questions remain about its details, however, including the nature of any US security guarantees and which side will benefit most from US business investment. Despite its immense supplies of copper, cobalt, coltan, tin and uranium, the DRC is among the five poorest countries in the world. For years, US firms considered the challenges of operating in such an unstable and corrupt country too great, which has enabled Chinese firms to get ahead. However, Trump's new focus appears to have provided enough confidence for KoBold Metals to agree a 'large-scale minerals exploration programme' over 1,600 sq km in the DRC's most volatile region. Benjamin Katabuka, its director-general in the country, told the Financial Times that the firm was 'looking to go big in this country … investments could be in the billions'. KoBold Metals pledged to develop local talent and to 'create thousands of high-paying Congolese jobs for decades'. Another US consortium, including a company led by former US special forces staff, has emerged as the leading bidder for Chemaf Resources Ltd, a Congolese copper and cobalt producer, after Kinshasa blocked its sale to a Chinese state-owned firm. President Tshisekedi of the DRC has long sought to attract more western investment to counterbalance China's dominance. He approached the US in February with an offer of mining rights in exchange for security support and has since backed calls for Trump to win the Nobel peace prize. KoBold Metals' agreement to develop the Roche Dure lithium deposit at Manono is contingent on resolving a long-running dispute over rights to the site between the Congolese government, Australia-based AVZ Minerals and China's state-backed Zijin Mining. The US start-up will also face the challenge of operating in a sector fraught with reports of labour abuses and environmental harm, and being judged against its billionaire backers' humanitarian and green commitments. The Bezos Earth Fund has pledged $110 million in grants to protect the Congo basin and the Gates Foundation helps fund agricultural development in the region. Founded in 2018, KoBold Metals distinguishes itself from traditional mining companies by using artificial intelligence to 'scrape' geological archives and algorithms to identify potential mineral deposits. In 2024, it found Zambia's largest copper deposit in a century. The conflict in the eastern DRC stems from the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda when nearly two million Hutus, including those accused of the slaughter, fled into Congo fearing reprisals. Rwanda has repeatedly intervened, citing threats from Hutu militias, and an estimated six million people have died in fighting, famine and disease. Analysts say much of the violence is driven by competition over natural resources. Reports by the UN and a number of western governments, including the US and EU, have presented evidence that Rwanda is backing and arming the M23 rebel movement in part to loot minerals from the DRC and export them as their own. Rwanda denies the allegation.
Reuters
21-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
AVZ Minerals says Congo deal with KoBold breaches arbitration order
DAKAR, July 21 (Reuters) - Australia-based AVZ Minerals (3A2.H), opens new tab, which holds a majority stake in the contested Manono lithium project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said on Monday a new deal between Kinshasa and U.S.-backed KoBold Metals to develop part of the project breaches an existing international arbitration order. The DRC government said on July 18 it had signed an agreement with KoBold to jointly develop the southern section of the Manono lithium and tin deposit, one of the world's largest untapped sources of the battery metal. The agreement commits the Congolese government to support KoBold's plan to acquire and develop the Roche Dure deposit at Manono, effectively positioning the California-based firm as Kinshasa's preferred partner to unlock the stalled project. AVZ, whose stake in the Manono project is held through its subsidiary Dathcom Mining, is currently locked in arbitration with Congo at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes over the government's failure to grant a mining permit. The company said Congo's deal with KoBold Metals violates interim orders issued by the ICSID tribunal in January 2024, which required Congo to recognize Dathcom as the holder of the disputed mining license and to protect AVZ's rights during the proceedings. Congolese authorities and KoBold Metals did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "On 18 July 2025, (AVZ) informed the ICSID Tribunal of the KoBold agreement which is a breach (of its orders),' the company said. Though not a party to the KoBold agreement, AVZ said it remains open to "constructive dialogue" with all stakeholders, including KoBold, to reach a commercial resolution that respects its legal and contractual rights.
Business Insider
19-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Gates, Bezos-backed firm secures Congo deal to boost U.S. mineral access
US-based KoBold Metals has entered into a new mineral exploration agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo, deepening its presence in one of the world's most resource-rich nations. US-based KoBold Metals has reached a tentative agreement for new mineral exploration in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The deal includes rights to explore the Manono lithium project, a key site amid a legal dispute. This move aligns with US strategies to strengthen its mining ties in Africa, countering China's mineral supply chain influence. US-based KoBold Metals has entered into a new mineral exploration agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo, deepening its presence in one of the world's most resource-rich nations. According to a statement from Congo's presidency on Thursday, the company, backed by billionaire investors including Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, has reached an "agreement in principle" to apply for exploration permits in the country. The deal includes rights to explore the Manono lithium project, a major site in southeastern Congo currently at the centre of a legal dispute between the government and Australia's AVZ Minerals Ltd, Bloomberg reported. The agreement was signed in Kinshasa by Congolese Mines Minister Kizito Pakabomba and KoBold's local managing director, Benjamin Katabuka. KoBold has not yet issued a public comment. Congo is a critical supplier of key minerals for the global energy transition. It is the world's largest producer of cobalt, the second-largest source of copper, and holds vast reserves of lithium and tantalum, essential for electric vehicle batteries and clean energy technologies. Countering China The signing comes amid growing US efforts to strengthen strategic partnerships in Africa's mining sector, aiming to counter China's dominance in global mineral supply chains. China currently dominates much of Congo's mining landscape, a position bolstered by the exit of major US firms in recent years, most notably when Freeport-McMoRan sold its stake in the massive Tenke Fungurume copper and cobalt mine to China's CMOC in 2016. In response, the US administration is encouraging American investment in Congo's critical minerals sector. In a related development, a US-led consortium, including a company founded by former special forces personnel, is now the leading contender to acquire Chemaf Resources Ltd., a major copper and cobalt producer in Congo. A previous attempt by China's state-owned Norinco Group to purchase Chemaf reportedly failed to secure Congolese government approval. The KoBold deal was announced as part of broader US-Congo cooperation efforts, which also include American-backed peace talks aimed at ending the ongoing conflict in eastern Congo, where a rebel group supported by Rwanda has seized significant territory. KoBold, known for its use of artificial intelligence to identify mineral deposits, also plans to support the digitisation of Congo's geological data.
Reuters
18-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
KoBold Metals, backed by Bezos and Gates, secures deal for disputed Congo lithium deposit
DAKAR, July 18 (Reuters) - KoBold Metals, the mining company backed by U.S. billionaires Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, has signed an agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo that positions the U.S. firm to acquire the contested Manono lithium deposit and launch large-scale critical mineral exploration, it said on Friday. The deal represents a dramatic escalation in the battle for Manono in northern Congo, considered one of the world's largest lithium deposits, crucial for electric vehicle batteries. Australian-based AVZ Minerals has been locked in a prolonged legal dispute with Congo's government over mining rights. KoBold's agreement effectively positions the California-based firm as Congo's preferred partner to resolve the impasse and develop the resource. DRC President Félix Tshisekedi confirmed the deal in a social media post. AVZ could not be immediately reached for comment. The deal was signed by Congo's mines minister and KoBold's local director on Thursday, but was announced on Friday. It commits the Congolese government to support KoBold's initiative to buy and develop the Roche Dure lithium deposit located at Manono and resolve disputes that have delayed the project's development, according to the agreement. AVZ initially held the permit to develop the Manono project, but in 2023, the DRC's Mines Ministry revoked this permit on the basis that the project had not advanced quickly enough. The rights were later granted to a unit of Zijin Mining ( opens new tab, prompting AVZ to seek relief through the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. KoBold must apply for exploration licenses covering more than 1,600 square km (618 square miles) before July 31, while the central African nation will appoint an envoy to facilitate the Manono acquisition by the same deadline. "KoBold Metals shall initiate a large-scale mineral exploration program in the DRC, using the world's most advanced technology to find deposits of critical minerals," the agreement states. KoBold says it uses artificial intelligence to locate copper, cobalt, nickel, and lithium deposits. The deal comes after President Donald Trump brokered a deal in June to stop fighting in mineral-rich eastern Congo in return for Western investments. The deal supports the U.S. Lobito corridor initiative aimed at creating secure supply chains and reducing Chinese dominance in critical minerals. KoBold will also digitize geological records at the Royal Museum of Central Africa and provide free public access to historic geoscientific data through Congo's National Geological Service, the agreement states.
