Workers at Tenke Fungurume, a copper mine in the southern Congolese province of Katanga, check bundles of copper cathode sheets, January 29, 2013. REUTERS/Jonny Hogg/File PhotoTenke Fungurume copper and cobalt mine has suspended all exports, logistics companies were told in a notice seen by Reuters late on Saturday, complying with demands by a court-appointed administrator.
A CMOC spokesman did not immediately reply to a request for comment but had said on Friday that the mine, which accounted for more than 10% of worldwide cobalt output in 2021, had not issued any instructions to stop exports. CMOC has been locked in dispute with the administrator appointed in February to run the mine for six months in response to a lawsuit by Congo state miner Gecamines, a minority stakeholder in Tenke Fungurume.The administrator, Sage Ngoie Mbayo, this month demanded that CMOC suspend marketing and export of its production because CMOC and Gecamines had not reached agreement this year on how to sell the mine's output.
Congo's government announced last August that it had formed a commission to reassess reserve levels, a rare instance of Congolese authorities challenging the Chinese companies that dominate its mining sector. Congo is the world’s top producer of cobalt, which is used in electric batteries, and is Africa’s leading copper miner.Reporting by Aaron Ross in Dakar and Helen Reid in Johannesburg Editing by David Goodman
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