China-based Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co has announced that it will invest US$147.2mn to build a copper project in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
As reported by Reuters, the latest announcement comes as the company plans to extend the exploration of its mining assets in the country.
The project will be located in the Lukuni region in the south of DRC, and will have an annual electro-deposited copper production capacity of 30,000 tonnes.
Electro-deposited copper is a raw material widely used in the electrical equipment and machine manufacturing sectors.
Huayou has built two cobalt refineries in the Luiswishi region of DRC after buying copper-cobalt mineral rights from La Generale des Carrieres et des Mines in 2015.
The new copper project is expected to launch by September 2019, the company said in the filing, but it also warned it still needs approvals from Chinese authorities.
The investment will be made through its subsidiary Congo DongFang International Mining (CDM), which mainly sources copper and cobalt from DRC.
