The U.S. has made progress in its push to prise Congo’s strategic minerals from China’s orbit, but conflict, contested licences and compliance demands are still slowing Washington’s advance into a region its rival dominates, diplomats and industry officials said.
Democratic Republic of Congo, which hosts the world’s largest cobalt supply and rich copper and lithium reserves, is central to the U.S. push to cut the West’s reliance on China for rare minerals.
One U.S. diplomat said Kinshasa is deliberately slowing new deals to push Washington to increase pressure on M23 before any further steps are taken. Reuters could not independently verify the claim.
The Congolese government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On background, a senior government official described the allegations as “speculation”.
“The agreement has its own rhythm: a period for receiving offers, a period for negotiation,” the official said. Rwanda, which denies backing M23, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. State Department told Reuters the U.S. remains “deeply concerned” by violence in eastern Congo and is pushing regional partners to reinforce the ceasefire, urging Rwanda to end M23 support and withdraw in line with December’s peace deal.
The department said Washington hopes to see swift progress on key deals, including a proposal for Glencore to sell copper and cobalt assets to the U.S.-backed Orion consortium, U.S.-based Virtus Minerals’ bid for Congo-focused Chemaf, and the extension of the Lobito Corridor railway line.
Kinshasa’s inclusion on the shortlist of the Rubaya mine, which supplies about 15% of global coltan and sits under M23/AFC control, signals Congo wants stronger U.S. action on M23, said Joshua Walker of NYU’s Congo Research Group.
Investment is unlikely while the group holds territory, he said.
U.S. influence on security has already been seen at some mines. Alphamin Resources, opens new tab restarted its Bisie tin mine only after U.S. diplomatic pressure helped ease fighting in territory around the site, though it warns that renewed clashes could threaten access and operations.
Copper exchange inventories have surpassed 1 million tons for the first time in 21 years. Despite a slowdown in smelter activity and softened demand from China, prices remain elevated, although they have retreated from January highs. This situation stems from a lack of confidence in long-term supply.
We are entering an era characterized by electricity intensity, where copper is no longer just a cyclical industrial input but a fundamental component of the 21st-century economy. Electric vehicles require approximately four times more copper than internal combustion vehicles. Additionally, solar farms, wind turbines, and the grid expansions necessary to connect them are heavily reliant on copper. Hyperscale data centers, which form the physical backbone of AI and cloud computing, are being deployed at an unprecedented pace.
There is a notable disconnect between the lead time required to bring new mine supply online and the demand drivers. A new data center can be constructed in as little as nine months, while establishing a new mine may take over 20 years.
In response, major miners are adapting with strategic focus. Teck’s $53 billion merger with Anglo American plc will create “Anglo Teck,” positioning it as a top-five global copper producer with over 70% exposure to copper. Other companies are opting for organic growth; after its acquisition attempt for Anglo American, BHP Group Limited is prioritizing expansion at Escondida, Pampa Norte, and the Vicuña project. Rio Tinto Plc has allocated 85% of its exploration budget to copper, emphasizing the Oyu Tolgoi expansion in Mongolia. Glencore Plc is also expanding in the DRC, aiming for 300,000 tons annually at Kamoto Copper Company and planning to nearly double output over the next decade.
As supply-side numbers tighten due to existing mines facing surging capital expenditures—estimated at $250 billion over the next decade just to maintain current production—the focus is shifting to emerging markets. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has emerged as the world surpassing Chile.
Long before trade wars and tariffs, China secured manufacturing dominance by controlling rare earths – a reality so consequential that the United States and its allies are now pledging more than $8.5 billion just to claw back some control of the supply chain. Companies mentioned in this release include: REalloys Inc., MP Materials Corp.,Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile, Amprius Technologies, Inc., Critical Metals Corp., Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc.
As global manufacturing expanded over the past two decades, rare earth processing was steadily pushed out of Western supply chains. It was capital-intensive, technically demanding, and difficult to defend on short-term economics.
China made the opposite choice, keeping those capabilities in place and methodically expanding them as others exited.
“China didn’t win this by mining. It won by building the entire system–separation, refining, metals, magnets–all connected. Everyone else walked away from it. At that point, control wasn’t up for debate anymore,” REalloys’s CEO Lipi Sternheim said. “North America lost control, and the reality is simple: factories don’t run on ore. They run on metals and alloys and at this moment in time our company is the only one able to actually refine heavy metals and magnets. Our competitors, no matter how well funded they are, are at least 3 years away from production”
Prior to going into mining in unexplored part of the world:
1. We need immediate research and development to improve the existing technologies.
2. Build refineries in the existing mines with infrastructure using developed technologies.
3. Take the price control of the Rare Earth Elements by tariffs or other means until the local refineries optimize the refining processes and operating cost.
We do not want to send the concentrate to another country to do final refining.
Electra Battery Materials’ board of directors recently approved a US$73 million budget to launch expansion plans for its brownfield site, located on the border of Temiskaming Shores and the Town of Cobalt, Ont.
Once up and running, the refinery will produce refined cobalt, the first produced in North America. Refined cobalt is a key part in manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles.
“We are going to be the first — not just the first in Canada, not just the first northern Ontario, but the first in North America — and so it’s an honour. It’s been a long journey. By this time next year, we’ll be getting close to finalizing construction.”
Company founder and CEO Trent Mell said that parts of the plant will be commissioned later in 2026, with investment and support from all levels of government, including the United States.
Gecamines is set to sell nearly half of Kamoto Copper Co.’s (KCC) copper output over the next two years, with an option to market 30% of production in subsequent years. This arrangement aligns with similar agreements Gecamines has formed with other major Congolese mines, where it maintains a minority stake.
In a significant development, Glencore PLC has agreed to sell a 40% share in its Democratic Republic of Congo copper and cobalt assets to the US-backed Orion Critical Mineral Consortium for approximately $9 billion, including debt. This transaction encompasses Glencore’s Mutanda Mining (Mumi) and Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) assets, which are among the leading Western-owned cobalt and copper producers in the DRC.
Additionally, the consortium has the option to sell its share of output to designated purchasers, while Glencore will continue to manage the daily operations of the mines.
This agreement underscores Washington’s increasing concern regarding supply chain risks, particularly its dependence on China for essential minerals utilized in renewable energy, electric vehicles, and defense technology.
Vale SA agreed to sell most of its stake in a Canadian nickel venture to Exiro Minerals Corp., Orion Resource Partners LP and Canada Growth Fund Inc. as part of an optimization of its metals business.
The Brazilian iron ore miner’s Vale Base Metals unit signed an agreement to create a new consortium of owners for the Thompson Nickel Belt operations in Manitoba, it said in a statement Thursday. Exiro, Orion and CGF will own about 81% of the new company, with Vale retaining 19%.
The consortium partners will form a new company called Exiro Nickel Company and committed to investing as much as $200 million at Thompson. Vale Base Metals signed an offtake agreement for concentrate produced at the Thompson Mill, thereby maintaining its status as Canada’s top nickel supplier.
In-situ carbon injection pilot successfully sequesters 12 tonnes of CO2 at the Crawford Nickel Project.
This initiative operates independently of Canada Nickel’s In-Process Tailings (IPT) Carbonation and NetCarb Programs, marking a significant advancement in the company’s carbon capture and storage capabilities. The results from this study will inform future post-mining carbon sequestration strategies, reinforcing Canada Nickel’s vision for a Zero-Carbon Industrial Cluster in the Timmins Region.
Conducted in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (DOE ARPA-E) funded team, led by Dr. Estibalitz Ukar from the University of Texas at Austin, the pilot project involved nearly two years of planning, laboratory experiments, and the deployment of an extensive monitoring network. The CO₂ injection field test took place from mid-November to mid-December 2025, with all data indicating a successful operation. Approximately 12 tonnes of injected CO₂ remained dissolved at depth, with no surface leakage detected.
The pilot project initiated short-duration injection trials starting on November 20, 2025, over a 12-day period, followed by continuous CO2-saturated water injection from December 2nd to December 18th. The injection well, drilled to a depth of 396m, confirmed that the injected CO₂ remained fully dissolved within the water column, with no upward migration observed.
The water used for dissolving carbon dioxide was sourced from an onsite well, and the well configuration included an injection well, a water supply well, four water monitoring wells, 12 surface seismic monitoring stations, and three seismic monitoring boreholes. Continuous monitoring for seismicity and potential CO₂ gas leakage revealed no significant seismic events and no CO₂ emerging from monitoring wells or through the sedimentary cover. Preliminary chemical analyses suggest that the injected CO₂-rich water has not reached the monitoring wells, aligning with predictions from reactive transport modeling. The absence of surface leakage strongly indicates that all the injected CO₂ remained at depth.
The US has developed a critical minerals price floor system that it’s pitching to allies as the Trump administration and more than 50 countries look to reduce dependence on China for the resources that are deemed critical to national security.
Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg said multiple US agencies have developed the system and are having conversations with allies and partners. It’s the latest update to progress being made by the US and its allies to ringfence Western companies from China’s pressure on those markets.
Premier nickel industry bodies of the Philippines and Indonesia have entered into a partnership to formalize a regional supply chain corridor, aiming to cement Southeast Asia’s dominance in the global energy transition.
The Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) signed a partnership agreement with the Asosiasi Penambang Nikel Indonesia (APNI), otherwise known as the Indonesia Nickel Miners Association, to outline the shared direction of both countries’ nickel mining industries.
Under the agreement, the PNIA and APNI sought to promote the IndoPhil Nickel Corridor, a unified platform designed to elevate the global significance of Indonesian and Philippine nickel.
The corridor is envisioned to build investment confidence, encourage policy dialogue, and promote responsible mining, especially as mineral resources are becoming the central component to the global energy transition.
“The corridor signals that Philippine and Indonesian nickel is developed with clearer standards and accountability,” PNIA Executive Director Charmaine Olea-Capili.
By bringing together industry leadership from PNIA and APNI, Olea-Capili said the initiative demonstrates that both the Philippines and Indonesia are committed to building a supply chain that other countries can rely on.
The Philippines is the second-largest producer of nickel in the world, trailing Indonesia. Combined, the two countries are estimated to account for around 75 percent of the global supply of the mineral.
Nickel plays a critical role in supporting strategic sectors such as energy, mobility, and infrastructure, as well as the green and digital transitions.
CAPE TOWN, Feb 12 (Reuters) – Two multi-billion dollar rail projects in Africa. One headed west, the other east. One backed by Western countries, the other by China. Both aiming to ship vast quantities of critical minerals. Welcome to the new scramble for Africa.
The Lobito rail corridor will cost up to $6 billion by the time it’s planned to be finished by 2030, with around 1,700 kilometres (1,050 miles) of track taking mainly copper and cobalt from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia west to the Angolan port of Lobito.
Much of the funding is coming from the United States and Europe and aims to upgrade the existing railway and build new lines in order to boost the annual capacity to 4.6 million metric tons per year.
Heading the other way east to Tanzania is the TAZARA railway, a 1,860 kilometer line that links the same mineral-rich parts of Zambia and the DRC to a port on the Indian Ocean, which offers shorter sailing times to China and other Asian markets.
Similar to the Lobito project it is a rehabilitation of an existing colonial-era railway and its Chinese backers are slated to spend around $1.4 billion to upgrade its annual capacity to 2.4 million tons.
These two projects are emblematic of how the world’s great powers are seeking to source and control the minerals needed to power industrial economies and the energy transition.
But they also show the contrasting ways that Western countries and China are trying to achieve their aims of security of supply.
Stuck in the middle are African countries, blessed by their resource endowment but cursed by a lack of coordinated policies on how to ensure they are not exploited by stronger nations, as well as too often being hobbled by poor governance and an inability to offer consistent and reliable investment regimes.
What is different this time compared to the colonial conquest of Africa two centuries ago is that African countries have far more choice.
They can set the rules and decide who they want to partner with, and if they get it correct then they stand to benefit from increased investment, jobs and revenue from taxes and royalties.
The models being offered are slightly different, insofar as the Western countries largely prefer private operators, coupled with public partnerships and funding in order to build mines and transport infrastructure.
U.S. WOOS
One of the major shifts at this week’s Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town was how the United States has changed tack, eschewing the bombastic and combative rhetoric of President Donald Trump and trying to focus on promoting trade and investment.
It is perhaps a tacit acknowledgement that insulting countries that you need for their resources is not a winning policy, but U.S. officials were out in force touting their capital for investment and their willingness to effectively re-risk mining projects by guaranteeing offtake and prices.
If the United States does go down this path, and African countries can look past the prior Trump insults and gutting of U.S. aid, there is a real possibility that new mines and infrastructure will proceed.
The planned U.S. “vault” of critical minerals will need African resources and a meeting of more than 50 countries last week shows the Trump administration appears to be serious about building and securing supplies of metals.
Will the efforts by the United States, and to a lesser extent the European Union, be enough to wean African states from Chinese investment, which has tended to be more all-encompassing as Chinese companies explore, build, operate and transport minerals.
An example is the massive Simandou iron ore mine in Guinea, currently ramping up to its 120 million tons a year capacity.
For years the project languished as Western companies struggled to mount a viable economic plan to make it work.
But Chinese investment and technical skill has brought the project to life, albeit with a minority partner in Rio Tinto and the ore from Simandou will flow almost entirely to China as a result.
The Chinese also have a strong first-mover advantage in Africa, having been active for decades.
But the question for African countries is whether China’s investment in extracting the continent’s minerals has been mutually beneficial, or whether it has been skewed towards Beijing.
The follow-up question is whether Western countries and their trading and mining companies will offer anything substantially better.
What is almost certain is that more investment is heading to exploit Africa’s mineral endowment, which will boost competition and de-risk projects.
Is the prize big enough to make everybody a winner? Yes, but it will take considerable effort and cooperation and the track record for that in Africa is patchy at best.
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