On July 4th, Guangdong Dowstone Technology Co., LTD. (hereinafter referred to as "Dowstone Technology") issued an announcement, stating that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Hong Kong Jana, plans to establish a wholly-owned project operation company, Dowstone Copper Mining, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa, and invest in the construction of a hydrometallurgical plant with an annual output of 300,000 tons (kt) of cathode copper. The total investment of the project is expected to be no more than 165 million US dollars. The funds will come from the company's own funds and self-raised funds. The construction period is 18 months.
As a leading enterprise in the domestic new energy battery materials field, Daoshi Technology has been continuously deepening its full industrial chain layout of "resources - materials - recycling" in recent years. The establishment of a copper smelting project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is regarded as a key measure for the company to strengthen its control over upstream resources and enhance its say in strategic metals. The announcement pointed out that after the project is completed, it will effectively expand the company's cathode copper production capacity, form a synergy effect with the existing cobalt resource business, and further consolidate its competitiveness in the global copper and cobalt product market.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, as one of the countries with the richest cobalt resources in the world, also has a large amount of undeveloped copper ore resources. Dow Technology's choice to set up a hydrometallurgical plant here not only enables it to obtain low-cost raw materials nearby but also reduces energy consumption and emissions through the hydrometallurgical process, which is in line with the global trend of green transformation in the mining industry. The project adopts the internationally advanced hydrometallurgical technology of copper sulfide ore. It is expected that the purity of cathode copper can reach 99.99%. The products will mainly target the new energy battery and electronic industry markets in Europe and Asia.
According to the announcement, of the total project investment of 165 million US dollars, approximately 60% will be used for equipment procurement and technology introduction, while the remaining funds will cover land acquisition, infrastructure construction and operation preparation. Dow Technology stated that it will reduce capital costs through diversified financing channels and has signed strategic cooperation agreements with several international mining equipment suppliers to ensure the stability of the supply chain. The 18-month construction period plan also fully takes into account the local infrastructure conditions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and shortens the construction period through a modular construction plan.
Industry insiders point out that Dow Technology's current dependence on foreign raw materials for cobalt salt products exceeds 70%, while copper, as a core metal in the fields of power batteries and energy storage, has seen a continuous high growth in demand. After the implementation of this project, it is expected that the company's annual production capacity of cathode copper will increase by 30%. Meanwhile, through the improvement of raw material self-sufficiency rate, the comprehensive production cost is expected to be reduced by 5% to 8%. Citic Securities' research report suggests that Dow Technology is transforming from a "material supplier" to a "resource controller", and the scarcity of its global resource layout may drive a valuation reshaping.
Despite the optimistic outlook, the project still faces risks such as geopolitical fluctuations, changes in local policies and cyclical fluctuations in copper prices. Dow Technology stated that it has established a localized operation team and signed an investment protection agreement with the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the same time, it has locked in the prices of some raw materials through tools such as futures hedging to cope with market uncertainties.
