DRC Uranium Cobalt Update, page-3

Overnight Katanga Mining, said it had been told by the DRC government to suspend a project to build a new system to remove uranium from its cobalt supplies.

“On January 30, 2019, the Company's 75 per cent operating subsidiary Kamoto Copper Company received a letter from the DRC Minister of Mines following the inspection conducted by the DRC Government in the fourth quarter of 2018,” Katanga said in a statement.

“The Minister of Mines raised certain concerns with the technical solutions identified by KCC and requested that KCC suspend the project to build an Ion exchange plant until further notice. KCC intends to engage with the Ministry of Mines to understand and address their concerns.”

Katanga’s Kamoto mine in the DRC is one of the world’s largest producers of cobalt, an important battery metal.

Glencore shocked the market in November when it revealed the discovery of uranium meant it could no longer export cobalt from the country.

It said metal would be stockpiled until an Ion Exchange system was built to remove the uranium, which was expected to be completed by May next year.

While Katanga still expects to produce 26,000 tonnes of cobalt this year, the company said on Friday that it now expects to sell most of that metal in 2020, news that could help tighten the market.

“This will mean that the majority of the Katanga cobalt sales will now likely occur in 2020; at spot prices this will defer around $650m of revenue into next year,” said Tyler Broda, analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

Subject to obtaining the necessary authorisations it expects to commission the Ion System in the fourth quarter.

Glencore has been grappling with a series of problems in the DRC, including a tough new mining code and a US Department of Justice investigation into its activities in the country.

Katanga, meanwhile, was fined by Canadian regulators in December after it was found to have issued misleading financial statements.

The Ontario Securities Commission also ruled that Katanga had failed to disclose its relationship with Israeli businessman Dan Gertler, who has been sanctioned by the US for his “opaque and corrupt mining and oil deals” in the DRC.

Separately, Glencore issued a production report on Friday that made passing reference to its latest problem in the DRC.

The report also showed its total copper production had risen 11 per cent to 1,453,700 tonnes, primarily due to the restart of processing operations at Katanga — which is also a major source of the red metal — in late 2017.

Cobalt production was up 54 per cent in 2018 to 42,200 tonnes, again largely due to Katanga, illustrating its importance to Glencore’s operations.

Zinc production was flat while coal production rose 7 per cent to 129.4m tonnes.

The company said its adjusted net debt at the end of December would be $2bn higher as lower prices and trading volumes impacted its oil trading unit, according to RBC.

“This should not be a material issue either way going forward. We wouldn’t expect this to impact any potential buyback or cash return with double-digit free cash yields going forward,” said Mr Broda.