Non-compliance and corruption in DRC mining, what about the COMINIERE, AVZ Minerals and Glencore file?

Within the framework of the exploitation of minerals specifically lithium in Manono in the current province of Tanganyika, the company AVZ Minerals is singled out for non-compliance with the clauses of the contract signed with the company DATHCOM Mining SA, created by two shareholders namely COMINIÈRE and DATHOMIR. Each holding respectively 30 and 70% of the shares.

According to a recent survey carried out on the ground, the contract which binds the Australian firm AVZ to the State with the Congolese clubs is to date in its fifth year.

The investigation also shows that this non-compliance with the contract caused COMINIÈRE to cease operations. Also, all the works that the AVZ company had promised to carry out on the ground have still not been carried out.

Projects not yet realized so far!

According to the agreements, it was a question of building roads, an electronic dam as well as a residential camp. The construction project of this camp was overcharged at 2,000,000 USD, while it does not represent this amount, some sources report.

Yet AVZ had indeed received 50% more and the motivation to do so.

In addition, COMINIÈRE complains that on behalf of the Government, the Minister of State in charge of the Portfolio would have signed an operating permit for AVZ while the contract with DATHCOM provides for the AVZ partner to submit the feasibility studies to COMINIÈRE for its favorable opinion.

Another complaint is that today, AVZ continues to hold Board meetings to which COMINIÈRE says it is not invited.

She also denounces the raising of funds by AVZ on the Australian stock exchange without taking into account the other shareholders who are not involved.

Five years later, the project remained in a research phase.

This is how COMINIÈRE was contacted by the Chinese company ZIJIN, which had its eye on a project called Manono-Kitotolo.

Thanks to a world-class lithium deposit, COMINIÈRE was counting heavily on the said project, but compliance with the clauses by the shareholders posed a problem. AVZ preferred to obstruct this project with opacity in fundraising operations.

CONTESTATION

COMINIÈRE also expressed its indignation about the sub-contracts of 500,000 USD which were signed without the approval of the partners. A management judged to be cavalry in the absence of COMINIÈRE’s agents. In the understanding of COMINIÈRE, who castigates this attitude, once the feasibility study is ready, it should give its favorable opinion for formalities in the Mining Cadastre with a view to transforming PR 13359 into a PE. And to add, the feasibility study sent to COMINIÈRE contains an assertion which renders it inadmissible.

In this study, AVZ claims to have recovered the hydroelectric power station of Mpiana Mwanga, whereas it is a heritage of the Congolese State via COMINIÈRE.

According to the results of the investigation, AVZ signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Energy for the rehabilitation of the said plant by skipping the owner, which is COMINIÈRE. A cheating which exposes AVZ to legal proceedings.

Several times, COMINIÈRE requested advances on dividends but never obtained them. Instead, AVZ refuted COMINIÈRE’s approach.

On the other hand, in correspondence CL/098/MMA/08/2021, AVZ had accused COMINIÈRE of violating the company’s agreements and statutes.

For the record, in January 2017, COMINIÈRE and AVZ signed an agreement. The share capital of DATHCOM SA was as follows: COMINIÈRE 25%, AVZ Minerals 65%, and DATHCOM 10%.

COMINIÈRE then ceded 5% to AVZ to stay with 20%. A company listed on the Melbourne Stock Exchange, AVZ raised the funds in Australia without the knowledge of COMINIÈRE.

The amount obtained by AVZ and its use did not allow COMINIÈRE to verify or understand the allocation. Everything remained mysterious and enigmatic. Nothing has been approved by the Board of Directors with respect to loans and advances made by a shareholder.

The DRC, a country with a naturally very rich soil, but which unfortunately is always being duped by foreign firms when it comes to the exploitation of its minerals.

Another example of this deception is the case of the company “GLENCORE” which is being prosecuted by Swiss justice for corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Swiss government had opened a criminal investigation against this trading, brokerage and raw materials extraction company. Information made public last Friday, after the close of trading.

Specialized in the trading of raw materials, the group says its willingness to cooperate in the investigation. “It’s a stage victory” for the Swiss NGO Public Eye.

In December 2017, she filed a criminal complaint with the Swiss public prosecutor concerning Glencore’s activities in Congo-Kinshasa.

“We asked the Swiss Prosecutor to pay more attention to what had happened in the Congo. So it took a while to be confirmed. Now, it is a procedure against Glencore which will have to render accounts for its activities in the DRC”, rejoices Adria Budry Carbo, investigator within Public Eye.

But to be accountable, it will first be necessary that Glencore be condemned in this procedure for corruption of certain public figures of Congo-Kinshasa.

The suspicions relate to the allocation of shares in copper and cobalt mines. Sleight of hand that would have been arranged by the Israeli Dan Gertler, a diamond trader, close to Joseph Kabila, the Congolese President at the time. The amount of corruption between the multinational and Congolese personalities would be 445 million dollars.

Before launching this procedure, which this time specifically targets Glencore, the Swiss justice system had opened a first investigation last year, but it was an investigation against X.