The exploration permits secured by California based mineral company KoBold Metals will allow it to mine rare earth minerals like lithium and coltan in the DRC.
Four of the seven mining sites are in Manono territory and the other three are in Haut Lomami in southeastern DRC.
KoBold Metals is backed by several major investors, including billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.
The company’s exploration permits cover minerals like coltan and lithium.
These are found in limited quantities in the US and something that the world is heavily reliant on China for. But the DRC has vast untapped reserves of these minerals.
They are used in making batteries, electronics and other advanced technologies critical to the global energy transition.
KoBold acquired the permits nine months after the United States and the DRC signed an economic agreement granting the US greater access to the DRC’s critical minerals, as part of broader efforts to resolve the conflict between the DRC and Rwanda.
However, the conflict continues despite a peace agreement signed last year in Washington, DC, by the Presidents of the DRC, Félix Tshisekedi and Rwanda, Paul Kagame .
President Donald Trump administration has been seeking to establish a greater presence in the DRC’s mining sector, which Chinese companies have dominated.
The east of the DRC is rich in minerals, but decades of conflict and corruption have left many communities there living in poverty.
–SABC/ Chris Ocamringa–
