Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) reportedly owes the Congolese state €800m ($894m) in tax royalties, according to the government administration DGRAD.
The Kamoto mine, jointly owned by Glencore (75%) and Gécamines (25%), is one of the largest mines in the DRC. The facility exported 200,000t of copper and 16,000t of cobalt in 2023.
Production at the facility has been unaffected despite the company’s local bank accounts being frozen earlier this year and tax collectors sealing off a warehouse where Kamoto stores its metals, according to press reports citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
Officials allegedly visited Kamoto’s warehouse in Kolwezi on Tuesday (24 September), closing it due to the investigation. However, it was reportedly reopened the following day.
In H1 2024, the Kamoto mine produced 89,000t of copper and 11,000t of cobalt. The facility is one of KCC’s copper-cobalt mining operations in the DRC. The company also operates the KOV mine that produced 105,310t of copper and 17,740t of cobalt in 2023, alongside Mashamba East, which produced 85,345t of copper and 13,866t of cobalt that same year, according to Mining Technology’s parent company GlobalData.
The Government of the DRC is reportedly reviewing Kamoto’s accounts to come up with a solution that accommodates “both the business climate and the interest of the state”.
The finance ministry is overseeing this investigation.
Kamoto’s total tax and royalty payments in the DRC totalled $2.3bn between 2021 and 2023, according to the reports. Total copper exports from the DRC have tripled since 2015, with the country now the second-largest copper exporter after Chile, which accounts for 19% of global exports.
According to GlobalData, total copper production from the top ten producing countries is projected to increase from 17.7 million tonnes (mt) in 2023 to 18.3mt in 2024.
