DRC: Minister of Mines discusses with miners on the issue of mineral processing at national level
DRC Minister of Mines, Willy Kitobo SAMSONI, has been in Lubumbashi since March 28, 2021 for a consultation workshop with mining operators on: “- the question of the assessment of the moratorium on the authorization to export copper concentrates and cobalt signed on October 12, 2020 which expires on April 12, 2021; – the question of the two important innovations of the 2018 mining law which should benefit local communities but which suffer from the non-effective application, namely, the specifications and the allocation of 0.3% of annual turnover ”.
In addition to the miners, the provincial ministers of mines of Haut-Katanga and Lualaba, delegates from the FEC chamber of mines, civil society organizations, technical and financial partners and other actors involved in community development, take part in these meetings held at Pullman Hotel Karavia in Lubumbashi.
In his words, the boss of Mines insisted on 2 points: -the vision of the Head of State in the mining sector is to develop it by keeping a permanent dialogue with all the stakeholders to guarantee a peaceful business climate and optimal; – the need to reflect together on these questions which have become sensitive in recent years to find suitable solutions beneficial to all parties involved in the mining sector.
The workshop continued with discussions followed by presentations on the technologies that allow the on-site transformation of sulphides. The first is the one already industrialized by the modern LCS pyrometallurgical plant in Kolwezi, which produces blister copper grading more than 99%. Another method is hydrometallurgical technology using the bio-leaching of sulphides tested in Vat-Leaching by the CreZ and Metal-group research laboratories.
It should be noted that to compensate for the deficit in the supply of electrical energy which is one of the problems with the on-site processing of copper ores in the DRC, there are energy infrastructure projects underway in the country, the experts noted.
