DRC: DRC Announces Extension on Export Ban Moratorium for Key Minerals

Aug 27, 2020 | Thomas Hedley, Africa Oil & Power
View Original

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has extended a new moratorium on the export ban of cobalt, tin, tungsten and tantalum concentrates. This waiver comes as the previous 6-month moratorium extension, signed on the 22nd of February 2020, expired. In 2013, the DRC banned the export of copper and cobalt concentrates to entice companies to process and refine ore locally. The country is the world’s leading cobalt producer and Africa’s leading copper producer. However, operators have struggled to comply, citing the country’s power deficit as one of the main barriers to developing a local processing industry. This has resulted in successive waivers being issued for the ban over the years.