China smelter group agrees to lower Q1 copper charges
The charges tend to fall when ore supply declines and rise when more concentrate is available.
As if fresh fighting in the east of the country over the spoils from some of the world’s richest mineral deposits would not make foreign investors think twice, now a think-tank warns that new oil discoveries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo represents a real threat to stability in other parts of the region where some calm has returned in recent months.
The International Crisis Group says in its latest Africa report that new oil exploration in the DRC’s east is “nurturing old resentments among local communities and contributing to border tensions with neighbouring countries,” while at the same time fueling secessionist tendencies in the Central Basin and the east.
“New oil reserves could also create new centres of power and question Katanga’s (DRC’s traditional economic hub) political influence,” ICG said in the report adding that “in the context of a general oil rush in Central and East Africa, the lack of clearly defined borders, especially in the Great Lakes region, poses significant risk for maintaining regional stability.
The DRC resource sector – apart from rich gold and diamond fields, the DRC is home to the world’s largest coltan and cobalt resource and second globally in terms of copper deposits – had already been thrown into turmoil in February with the death of the country’s mining go-to guy.
Augustin Katumba Mwanke, the former governor of copper-rich Katanga province, was seen by many analysts and diplomats as the power behind Joseph Kabila’s throne.
Katumba’s death came only weeks after a fiercely contested election – only the second in 40 years – that saw Kabila re-elected, but leaving his camp without a sufficient majority in parliament.
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4 Comments
Robert Harbord Hamond
If we are to have security in Congo region we need Russia. So far the West has kept Russia out, and its been a corrupt mess. Maybe its time to add the mineral value of the Congo to global stock markets. The benefit of this would be added liquidity to global markets.
Rudi Gerber
WATCH THIS SPACE :
Not that long ago, Obama’s Law has seen the light that would prevent anybody from buying the DRC’s gold – as alleged it could finance weapons. With the discovery of oil in the Katanga region , it makes the DRC now a target to be invaded by the USA.
Makes you think, doesn’t it? Soon the USA might declare war on the DRC ; or might “assist” as a “peacekeeper” in the DRC – and in exchange for the “expensive USA Army” efforts the DRC will pay its debt to the USA with barrels of oil.
Juliusmututu
Hi Rudi-Oil discovery in the Katanga region? That’s new.
Mrkhrdr
. I can only imagine the nightmare that would result from oil fields developments. On the other hand, what energy corp. would be so rash as to make the attempt?Arguably DRC’s most violent region, the East has suffered for decades of horrific violence over conflicts in the Congo and its neighbors to the East, Rwanda & Burundi. Mines have changed hands when their locale is seized by one warlord or another, who do indeed use the profits to enrich themselves and their armies.
BTW, Katanga is in the South, sharing a boundary with Zambia. It’s seen it’s own share of violence, but it’s a distinct region from the East.