DRC says Invanhoe mines’ kamoa deal should be suspended

Democratic Republic of Congo said recently that Ivanhoe Mines’ sale of a stake in the Kamoa copper mine to China’s Zijin Mining should be suspended until concerns raised by the government can be resolved.

Vancouver-based Ivanhoe announced last month that it would sell a 49.5% stake in Ivanhoe subsidiary Kamoa Holding to China’s Zijin Mining Group for $412-million.

Kamoa Holding currently owns 95% of the project in the DRC’s Katanga province.

In a statement released last month, the government, which holds a 5% stake in the Kamoa project, said Ivanhoe had promised it an additional 15% stake and expressed concern that the sale to Zijin would dilute its new shares.

“That last transaction should be suspended until the completion of the talks that the government has undertaken,” Mines Minister Martin Kabwelulu and Portfolio Minister Louise Munga Mesozi said in a statement.

The government also vowed to reevaluate the Kamoa mine’s legal status in the DRC.

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