Sino-US Rivalry Intensifies for DRC’s Strategic Minerals
The very rare riches of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s subsoil, cobalt as a bonus, are at the heart of the opposition of interests between the United States and China in a world in the midst of a race to control strategic minerals for the energetic transition.
A bill requiring the establishment of a U.S. national strategy to secure critical mineral supply chains from the Democratic Republic of the Congo was introduced Tuesday, July 11, 2023, in the U.S. House of Representatives, by John James , president of the Africa sub-committee.
In this bill presented to the lower house of the American congress, Jhon James postulates that the domination of Chinese companies in the extraction, processing and refining of these minerals “represents an economic and national security threat which has an impact on energy independence and military readiness”.
The DRC is Africa’s largest mining producer and provides more than 70% of the world’s cobalt, a crucial metal for batteries used in electronics and electric cars.
The country of Lumumba is also quite rich in deposits of copper, lithium, tantalum and germanium.
This bill targeting the DRC is co-sponsored by Jim Baird, Young Kim, Thomas Kean Jr. and Cory Mills, four other Republican members of the House of Representatives.
The DRC is full of minerals that are said to be critical because they are necessary for the energy transition. They are essential for renewable energies and clean technologies (electric batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, etc.). A race for these strategic metals is therefore the new bone of trade contention between Washington and Beijing.
China and its companies are very well positioned throughout the value chain of these strategic minerals.
According to an analytical note published recently by the American Geological Society (Geological Society of America, GSA), in addition to the exploitation of mines in the main producing countries in Africa and elsewhere, Beijing concentrates today, all minerals combined, two third of refining capacity.
It thus refines 90% of manganese, 76% of cobalt, 65% of lithium, 58% of aluminum, 90% of rare earth elements and 40% of copper worldwide.
The DRC must therefore become aware of the role it must play in the global game of energy transition.
