Congo's Katanga Province Bans Export of Mineral Concentrates

By Nicholas Bariyo, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; 256-75-2624615 bariyonic@yahoo.co.uk

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Congo's copper-rich Katanga province has banned the export of unprocessed mineral concentrates in a bid to compel companies to add value to mineral exports, a government official said Tuesday.

A provincial official in Katanga province told Dow Jones Newswires that Martin Kabwelulu, Congo's mines minister, directed provincial authorities to start effecting the ban this week to compel mining companies to put in place mineral processing facilities, including metallurgic plants, to add value to copper and cobalt concentrates.

"The main idea behind the ban is to create more jobs and collect more revenue," he said by telephone from Lubumbashi, the provincial capital.

The ban was first announced in 2007 but was temporally lifted to allow companies time to put in place facilities.

In 2007, the ban affected mainly companies with operations in both Zambia and Congo, including Toronto-listed First Quantum Minerals Ltd (FM.T) and South Africa-based Metorex Ltd.(MTX.JO).

Years of civil war and inadequate investment have left most mineral treatment facilities in Katanga dilapidated, forcing most companies to ship concentrates for treatment outside the country, mainly in neighboring Zambia as well as South Africa and China.

Congo's state mining company, Gecamines, has been rehabilitating its mineral treatment facilities in Katanga since 2008, but the global economic downturn slowed down rehabilitation work last year.

The company has also been seeking early payment of signature bonuses from international companies that took over some of its assets since 2006 to speed up rehabilitation.

The dipping of global copper prices in 2008 forced a number of small-scale mining companies out of Congo, hampering the sector's recovery.

According to analysts, the African Copperbelt, which stretches from Katanga to Northern Zambia, contains at least 10% of the world's copper reserves and a third of its cobalt reserves.

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