DRC Mines Minister grants a six-month moratorium to mining operators for on-site mineral processing
The Minister of Mines, Willy Kitobo, has granted a 6-month moratorium to mining operators, mainly producers of copper sulphide concentrates for processing on site. This move intends, to give the market products extracted from the deposits of mineral substances from the Congolese soil and subsoil a greater added value.
In his letter addressed to the mining operators, Willy Kitobo, reminded them of the prohibition by the Mining Code, to leave the country raw minerals.
“I have decided to grant a six-month moratorium to all producers of copper sulphide concentrates, which will end on April 12, 2021, and can only be extended on the basis of a justification for a further processing project. on the spot ”, indicates the Minister in his correspondence.
And to add: “As you know, the Congolese mining law prohibits the export of raw mining products and even unfinished concentrates. It should be understood by this that the country requires a transformation on the spot to give to the market products extracted from the deposits of the mineral substances of the soil and subsoil of our country a greater added value. And it is only by working in this form that we will create more jobs, from mining to metallurgical processing plants and expect to obtain the maximum expected revenue from the development of its mineral wealth by the private sector ”.
As a reminder, a few days ago, the issue of on-site processing of minerals was the subject of discussions between the Minister of Mines on the one hand and mining operators on the other.
At the end of the discussions, all parties agreed on the importance of transforming the concentrates on site to give them added value.
The decision taken that same day (August 22, 2020) was to grant an indefinite moratorium until further notice to mining producers of cobalt hydroxides and carbonades, “since everyone agreed that this metal is more sought after today in world trade in the form of salt rather than metal ”.
