#LMEL (Lloyds Metals and Energy Limited) eyes #Cobalt from #Congo to #India through #US partnership
LMEL eyes cobalt from Congo to India through US partnership
Nagpur: Lloyds Metals and Energy Limited (LMEL), which has taken over CHEMAF Group, a mining company in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), early this month by forming a joint venture with US’ Virtus Mineral Group, plans to get its share of cobalt from the African nation to India as well.
The sharing formula would depend on the agreement between Indian and American governments as the venture also has a US partner. CHEMAF’s mines are seen as a major non-Chinese source of cobalt, a critical mineral, especially when India doesn’t have any major resources of the metal.
“The production is expected to start within the current fiscal,” said LMEL’s managing director B Prabhakaran.
The company projects an initial output of 20,000 tonnes of cobalt and 60,000 tonnes of copper a year from the Congo mines. CHEMAF Group has mines in Congo’s Katanga belt, known to be among the biggest copper reserves in the world apart from having sizeable cobalt deposits.
The takeover of CHEMAF Group by the LMEL–Virtus combine is also seen as a major victory for the US government, as it could outmanoeuvre the Chinese players who were also eyeing the company.
Source: The Times of India
