China's Luoyang Molybdenum Industry and state-owned mining company Gecamines are expected to hold talks in the coming days in a dispute over their Tenke Fungurume copper and cobalt project, the Democratic Republic of Congo prime minister's office said on Wednesday.
Exports from the mine, which accounted for more than 10 percent of global cobalt production in 2021, were suspended a month ago after a court-appointed interim administrator told Luoyang Molybdenum to stop shipments, industry sources told Reuters.
Administrator Sage Ngoie Mbayo was appointed head of Tenke Fungurume in response to a complaint from minority shareholder Gecamines, which accused Luoyang Molybdenum of underestimating the mine's reserves in order to reduce royalties paid to Gecamines.
Luoyang Molybdenum, which owns 80 per cent of the mine, denies this.
In comments to Reuters on Wednesday, Zhou Wensen, a spokesman for Luoyang Molybdenum, acknowledged for the first time that the company had encountered problems exporting minerals.
"Some people are trying to gain negotiating power for themselves by illegally blocking customs channels," he said in an emailed statement.
He said the company had never received official documentation of the export ban from customs and was working through the grievance process to resolve the issue.
Isaac Bakajica, an aide to Prime Minister Jean-Michel Samar Lucomde, said Lucomde was working to resolve the impasse.
"The prime minister is trying to get everyone around a table," he told Reuters. "We have a meeting in a few days."
Zhou did not comment on any specific meeting, but said the prime minister's participation "shows how seriously the DRC government takes this issue, so we believe the law will resolve this issue".
Gecamines' general secretary did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An aide to administrator Ngoie declined to comment.
Congo is the world's largest producer of cobalt, used in batteries, and Africa's leading copper miner.
