CEO of Chinese mining giant back in DRC as cobalt supplies face biggest test yet

China Moly has been suspended from running the massive Tenke-Funrugume copper and cobalt mine, and its contracts face renegotiation

Sun Ruiwen met the Congelese prime minister and senior lawmakers in Kinshasa during his second trip in three months

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Demand for cobalt is only expected to grow. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:00am, 14 Mar 2022

The CEO of mining giant China Molybdenum was back in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) last week to meet senior officials.

Sun Ruiwen’s second trip to Kinshasa in less than three months came as China Moly’s copper and cobalt operation in the Central African nation faces its biggest test yet, after a court temporarily suspended it from running the massive Tenke-Funrugume mine (TFM).

He met Congolese Prime Minister Sama Lukonde Kyenge and officials of the Senate – the upper house of parliament – for talks believed be to seek support as the company’s mining contracts face renegotiation.

Sun and Lukonde met “to discuss the next step to develop new energy metals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo together with corporate strategic partners”, a statement from China Moly – the world’s No 2 cobalt producer – said following Tuesday’s talks.

This came just days after a commercial court in Lubumbashi, the Congolese mining capital in the southeast, suspended China Moly from the management of the Tenke-Fungurume mine.

A third-party administrator would be appointed for six months, the court said on March 1 in a case filed by Congolese state-owned commodity trading and mining company, Gecamines.

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