Katanga Mining’s 75%-owned DRC subsidiary Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) has resumed export and sale of a limited quantity of cobalt from its Kamoto Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The cobalt complies with both international and local DRC transport regulations with respect to the levels of uranium. Last November, Katanga said it will temporarily suspend the export and sale of cobalt from its Kamoto Project after detecting uranium in the cobalt hydroxide in levels that exceeded the acceptable export limit.
The company said at that time that the project is expected to continue without affecting the quantity of cobalt produced. The low levels of radioactivity detected in the uranium currently do not present a health and safety risk.
Together with the Katanga and its shareholder La Générale des Carrières et des Mines, KCC has been working with the DRC Government’s Ministry of Mines and the Congolese Atomic Energy Agency (CGEA) on a long-term technical solution with a focus on processing an ion exchange plant.
KCC owns a 25% stake in La Générale des Carrières et des Mines. The company has also been exploring various alternative interim operational and regulatory solutions to recommence the export and sale of cobalt.
KCC has produced 930t of contained cobalt since January through interim operational solutions. As confirmed by the competent DRC authorities, the company immediately resumed the export of its cobalt hydroxide complying with the regulations.
KCC noted that such resumption of exports remains subject to the regular DRC export procedures that include the monitoring by CGEA on a continuous basis and by the relevant mining authorities. It will also continue to focus on implementing the interim operational solutions while it processes the ion exchange plant.
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