Critical Metals, a London-listed mining investor, has signed an offtake deal with OM Metal & Resources to sell at least 20,000 tonnes (t) of copper oxide ore from its Molulu copper/cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The agreement between the two companies is valid from 4 October to 31 December this year. Based on mutual agreement between Critical Metals and OM Metal, the contract can be renewed.
Critical Metals also stated that during the contract period it will supply OM Metal with copper ore with 1.5% of average minimum acid soluble copper grade.
Critical Metals CEO Russell Fryer said: “In the last few months we have experienced significant interest from seven different buyers of our product. We are delighted to announce our offtake agreement with OM Metal & Resources, making Critical Metals the first western and London Stock Exchange-listed company to produce and sell copper ore in the DRC since Glencore and Ivanhoe.
“This momentous achievement will provide us with short term cash flow and allows us to fast-track our progress at Molulu.
“We are sticking to our first phase production target of producing 10,000 tonnes of oxide ore per month and this partnership allows for the production at Molulu to be monetised quickly.
“Furthermore, with the current diamond drilling programmes that are under way at the Molulu oxide and sulphide zones, our confidence in the large potential of Molulu continues to grow.”
Last week, the buyer had taken delivery of the first load of copper ore. A fleet of ten trucks, each with the capacity to transport 40t of ore, were used during the delivery.
Critical Metals holds an indirect 70% interest in the Molulu copper/cobalt project.
Located around 100km from Lubumbashi, the Molulu project sits within the Katangan Copperbelt. Mining activities have been taking place at the copperbelt since the late 19th century.
It is considered to be one of the highly metallogenic provinces in the world and is rich in copper, cobalt and uranium deposits.
The copper grades produced at the project range between 15% and 40% for sulphides and 2% and 15% for oxides. Although cobalt areas have also been identified, drilling is yet to take place.
