DRC Congo press discussing importance of Lithium again in this article
De toute évidence, le Congo compte réellement pour les États-Unis à cause de la géopolitique internationale. Et ce n’est pas pour rien. Le...
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Obviously, Congo really matters to the United States because of international geopolitics. And it's not for nothing. The country is the largest cobalt producer in the world and the largest copper producer in Africa. That's not all: important strategic mineral deposits are also listed in its subsoil.
Manono's lithium is not only of interest to China. Canadians, Americans and Europeans are also on the breach.
U.S. INTEREST in Africa has declined significantly in recent years. With Joe Biden, the president of the United States, Washington wants to catch up with China and Russia, which are spectacularly extending their tentacles on the African continent. In this American quest to regain control in Africa, the Congo, where there are large deposits of lithium and other strategic minerals, represents great importance for Americans who seek to keep their traditional geopolitical influence there.
"Lithium is really the summary of the challenges of the world that is coming," analysts almost take up in chorus. It is certain, and in all likelihood, investors looking to possess one of the keys to the near future, should flock to the metal nicknamed "white gold" or "white oil", increasingly sought after and essential to carry out the energy transition. From batteries to medicines to batteries, the use of lithium has become essential to the manufacture of smartphones, computers, and especially the batteries of electric cars / EVs.
As a result, the price of lithium continues to rise. Analysts even predict that it should be multiplied by 40 by 2035, precisely because of the exploding demand. For example, the European Commission estimates that there will not be enough lithium mined to meet needs by 2030. And so the spectre of scarcity is already on the horizon.
Question: How much will the world need then? For the moment, it is difficult to give a precise answer while we are still in the middle of speculation, conjecture... And so, no one really knows what the future will be. Curious, however, to note that the world summit on lithium that was organized on November 28 and 29, 2022 in Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital, went largely unnoticed.
However, without lithium, there is no energy transition (?). The issue of lithium exploitation is today in a way a concentrate of the biggest geopolitical issues of the moment. Almost everything is there. White gold has become a crucial economic issue especially for car manufacturers and their customers who are considering owning an EV.
DRC's ambitions
On the subject of lithium exploitation, the Democratic Republic of Congo/DRC has crazy ambitions. The government wants to make the country a true world center for the manufacture of electric batteries. A project that is still littered with obstacles: poor state of roads, lack of electricity, lack of transparency, corruption... Will the DRC really be at the heart of the global energy transition tomorrow? This is in any case the ambition of the country's authorities who want to develop the country's lithium resources, by installing an electric battery manufacturing industry.
The country is said to have the largest reserves of hard rock lithium ever mined in the world. Only a reserve of 132 million tonnes has been proven and considered probable, and therefore immediately exploitable. It is also said that the DRC has the greatest potential on the African continent, which could make it the world's largest lithium producer ahead of Australia.
AVZ Minerals, an Australian company, plans to launch in 2023 the exploitation of this deposit considered the largest in the world, in the territory of Manono in the province of Tanganyika. This company has been present on the site since 2016 to develop a mine. Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd/ CATL, a Chinese group and world leader in battery manufacturing, wants to partner with AVZ Minerals through its subsidiary Suzhou Cath Energy Technologies. CATL has put on the table $240 million for a 24% stake in the project and could spend up to $400 million in total.
The commissioning of the Manono mine is seen as a turning point by the Congolese government. Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, the President of the Republic, declares loud and clear that his country is "the most competitive destination in the world" to install battery manufacturing plants. In figures, the DRC hopes to capture part of the $ 8 trillion in revenue from the sale of EVs by 000, or $ 2025 trillion by 46. Indeed, a plant located in the DRC would cost less than in the United States or China.
Governance
Manono's lithium is not only of interest to China, the world leader in battery production. Other lithium electric battery plant construction projects are also being led by Canadians, Americans and Europeans. Apparently, the Westerners are capped to the post by the Chinese. Seemingly. Indeed, Joe Lowry, the founder of consulting firm Global Lithium, recently told Voice of America/VOA that Western lithium producers have been caught off guard by the growth of the EV industry, and thus, by the lithium rush.
He pointed out that lithium has been a tiny niche market for 7 decades, and the global market for lithium-based chemicals did not reach $1 billion until 2015. And for good reason, according to him, the industry was not prepared for the electrification of transportation. "You can build a huge battery factory like Tesla does in a few years. It takes up to ten years to bring a fully integrated lithium chemicals project online," Lowry said.
After investing ahead of the resource curve outside of China, Chinese producers are looking at India and Africa. Africa's lithium is increasingly coveted as more than half of the world's mineral resources are in South America and Australia. Chinese conglomerate BYD, headquartered in Shenzen, is reportedly negotiating the purchase of six new lithium mines in unspecified African countries, according to Reuters. In Zimbabwe, which has large untapped deposits, China is buying up mines. According to Reuters, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt is investing $300 million in the Arcadia Lithium mine on the outskirts of Harare, the country's capital. There is talk of building a processing plant for 400,000 metric tons of lithium concentrate per year. Shenzhen Chengxin Lithium Group and Sinomine Resource Group are also investing in lithium in Zimbabwe.
This country, economically unstable and hit by Western sanctions, wants to become a major player in the flourishing lithium sector.
The Chinese company Ganfeng Lithium, which has the largest lithium production capacity in the world, will build in partnership with Leo Lithium Limited, an Australian firm, the first lithium mine in West Africa, in Mali. Estimated cost: more than 160 billion FCFA. The Goulamina hard rock mine is considered one of the highest quality lithium assets in the world.
It is now that the United States also recognizes the importance of Africa. Indeed, Africa has vast untapped energy deposits, which are essential for the transition to clean energy, including for mobile phones, aircraft engines, hybrid electric vehicles and missile guidance systems.
It's all discussing AVZ and CATL , no discussion of Zinjin, so perhaps USA applying pressure to get the mess sorted out and production started.
