Running discussion on SP, page-77890

From Mining News

July 10, 2023

SPOTLIGHT: President Tshisekedi has outlined his mining vision. Which investor applies it? (1)


In his speech which was eagerly awaited by all participants in Investing in Mining Indaba 2023 in Cape-Town, South Africa on February 07, 2023, President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi set the country's ambitions for the sector under his leadership. natural resources and mainly that of mines in this period of energy transition and global warming forcing the whole world to secure the supply of critical minerals, or strategic minerals according to the Congolese name, and pushing for an open war between Westerners and Chinese whose culters were announced by the US Under-Secretary of State during his speech.

Concerning the Democratic Republic of Congo, Fatshi had said this which had more retained the editorial staff of Mining News Magazine :

'' There is no need to recall here that my country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, is known for its mining potential representing 1,100 different mineral substances. All its provinces can claim to hold mineral wealth. And in this period of climate change, the Democratic Republic of Congo is proving to be a solution state with its strategic minerals, which are cobalt, coltan, germanium and lithium, to guarantee a better ecological and energy transition.

It is therefore a destination of choice that offers countless opportunities. Financiers, mining operators, equipment manufacturers, subcontractors, recyclers, everyone can find their share!
However, the Democratic Republic of Congo, my country, is ready to put in place mutually beneficial agreements with all partners who need our resources.

History attests that my country has always been present at all the major meetings of the industrial revolutions, but unfortunately without its population drawing any benefit from it. Once again we meet today for a major meeting, that of strengthening resilience to climate change on a global scale. And it is increasingly clear that climate security, energy security, and food security go hand in hand.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is still ready to play its part. But this time, we want the Congolese people to fully benefit from it. With its potential in strategic minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, nickel and graphite, my country can contribute to the settlement of climate issues and thus play a major role in this energy transition. Cobalt, an essential mineral for batteries and green technologies, finds 60% of its world production in the DRC, which would hold 50% of the world's reserves.
In addition, my country has significant reserves of lithium, another essential element of batteries for electric vehicles.

My address to this meeting revolves around the reforms undertaken by my country to guarantee not only a good business climate, but also to ensure fair remuneration of revenues from mining resources to the Congolese people, with a view to sustainable development. .

From my accession to the supreme magistracy, I worked to restore the image of my country to make it more attractive to investments, by transforming it into a healthy space by improving the business climate. I instructed the government to take initiatives in the direction of being part of a dynamic allowing the improvement of the business climate while ensuring that the implementation of this framework favorable to business really contributes to the well- to be of our people.

As an indication, a Special Economic Zone has been set up in Manono in the province of Tanganyika for the transformation of Lithium for the manufacture of electronic batteries at competitive costs. In addition, a bilateral agreement has been signed with the Republic of Zambia for the manufacture of electric batteries in the province of Haut-Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Considering that the country's coverage in terms of research is only approximately 19% of the national territory, it can be deduced that the country is still under-explored. This explains the recent launch of a vast campaign of geological research through the creation of the National Geological Service of Congo.

This campaign, which started with the Katanga block in the copper-cobalt and tin sector, will extend in the next few days to the Kasai block for nickel and chromium. The objective pursued is to discover new deposits that can be the subject of calls for tenders, with a view to concluding mutually profitable public/private partnerships. Also, faced with the challenges of the day, mainly with regard to the race towards energy transition, the Democratic Republic of Congo is positioning itself as a solution country, with regard to the occurrences of so-called critical minerals which abound in its subsoil.

The Democratic Republic of Congo can therefore play a major role in the stability and development of Africa. To achieve this, I once again issue an unequivocal call to action through win-win partnerships. This model implies exchange agreements where the partners derive relatively equitable benefits.

I invite you to come and explore the many opportunities that my country offers today. These include the project to install a local refining plant for our Cobalt to produce the precursors needed to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles, as well as the establishment of a value chain in the small-scale gold mining sector as well as that of 3 T (coltan, tin and tungsten) through the installation of processing entities.

The mining sector of the Democratic Republic of Congo can only be profitable for the investors that you are if it meets the legitimate aspirations of the local communities impacted by the mining projects.
It is in this specific context that mechanisms promoting the redistribution of income from mining activities have been inserted into the legislation of my country, for the benefit of the populations impacted by mining projects.
These include the obligation, on the part of holders of mining rights in the exploitation phase, to sign specifications with local communities defining their social responsibility, to constitute and make available an allocation of 0 .3% minimum of turnover for contribution to community development projects.''
Which foreign investors could help him realize this win-win vision for the DRC?
COLTAN-TIN-LITHIUM AND OTHER CRITICAL MINERALS


Nigel Munro Ferguson is a geologist and businessman who has been in several different businesses. Mr. Ferguson serves as Managing Director and Executive Director of AVZ Minerals Ltd. and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists.

In the past, Nigel Munro Ferguson served as Country Manager at Ashanti Goldfields Co.
He was educated at one of Hobart's top private schools, Friends, where he played rugby and rowed.
After a degree in geology from the University of Tasmania, he set out to work in mineral exploration across several countries around the world. Africa became his speciality, and he ran Ashanti Goldfields in Tanzania, where he purchased a gold mine that is now one of AngloGold Ashanti's most profitable.

Appointed Technical Director of AVZ Minerals in February 2017 by its then President and CEO Klaus Eckof, in 2018, a year after Ferguson took over as CEO replacing Mr. Eckof, AVZ said it discovered ''the most largest hard rock spodumene deposit'' in the world near Manono, a town located in an area once called ''Triangle of Death'' with the 1998 Rwandan war of aggression by the RCD and whose population now counts only than on AVZ and the lithium project whose reserves have been certified by a team of geologists from Dathcom Mining, the partnership company with Cominière and Dathomir.

First viable feasibility study at Cominière



Thanks to the technical work and exploration carried out by Congolese and Australian geologists under the technical direction of experienced geologist Graeme Godsman Johnston, AVZ has valued the only exploration mining permit that remained in its portfolio after a suspicious transfer of other permits to HYVEST and HYSEN partnerships with Chinese and a Congolese politician.

Pending the notification of the Operating Permit (PE) for permit 13359, the project revives the hope for the inhabitants to secure their livelihoods.
While President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi appeals to serious investors to jointly explore mineral resources in Katanga and Kasai, Nigel Ferguson and AVZ have proven to be among the right natural and legal persons, including the Head of State. needs for DRC mines.

After recovering the exploration permit 13359 and the Dathcom Mining joint venture in early 2017 by buying 60% of Dathomir in the project and paying USD6 million to the state company Cominière, AVZ had more or less 30,000 meters diamond drilling, as well as RC drilling then carried out a feasibility study (within the legal deadline, in 3 years in 2020) certifying 400 million tonnes of lithium resources at 1.65%, therefore probably the largest resource undeveloped in the world.

Energy transition and infrastructure

If exploited, Manono's lithium will help the DRC to better compete with other producing countries such as China, Argentina or Chile.

The investment cost of around $600 million to build a plant, buy the mining equipment up to the processing plant, the crusher-grinder of the materials to pass through a dense medium separation plant which will be followed by sorting by size to have about 700,000 tonnes per year of the product called SE6, which is spodumene concentrate with 6% lithium was found to be normal and acceptable by Ir Raph Ngoy Mushila of First Quantum who compared various projects of lithium throughout the world, including in Australia.

Metallurgical test work undertaken by Kingston Process Metallurgy in Canada confirmed that the lithium sulphate plant process proposed by AVZ to process lithium from Dathcom Mining at Manono was technically feasible and that the 1.5 kg of lithium sulphate primary lithium produced were suitable as feedstock in battery factories.

Lithium production by AVZ and Dathcom is also something some villagers are waiting for as they want to secure their livelihoods. If the authorities issue the license, lithium production could become the main job provider in Manono.

Full technical due diligence studies of the railways to Lobito and Dar es Salaam have been carried out and both are considered suitable for exporting the product. This goes into the construction of basic infrastructure by serious mining for the benefit of the country and the people, Mark Bristow and Kibali have done this with the national road that goes from Doko (Watsa territory) to Aru (Ituri territory) on the border with Uganda. Rehabilitated dirt road, maintained by Kibali despite paying the toll to Foner.

Two main product export routes have been selected, namely Manono to the Kabondo Dianda intermodal intermediate station (Haut Lomami Province) by road, then on the SNCC to Tenke and the TAZARA railway to port of Dar es Salaam.
The second runs from Manono to the Kabondo Dianda railhead by road, then on SNCC to Tenke and to the Angolan Railway (CFB) to the port of Lobito. A third possible option is also available to Walvis Bay via the Walvis Bay Corridor.

Manono Special Economic Zone

AVZ has worked closely with relevant government officials, primarily Minister Julien Paluku of Industry, to facilitate a special economic zone around the Manono project which the Head of State spoke to Mining Indaba on February 7, 2023, which will provide a favorable fiscal regime for the project and facilitate industrialization in this part of the country.

This is the only monster mining project of President Fatshi's current mandate and which will produce significant sustainable results in the communities and make him more than popular in a province which has known the throes of the war imposed by Rwanda throughout the RCD rebel movement.

In addition to and like the Kibali Gold Mine project led by Mark Bristow, AVZ Power worked with the technical services of the National Ministry of Energy and Water Resources and Cominière, according to several documentary sources and testimonies from the General Secretariat for Energy, until producing a feasibility study on the rehabilitation of the hydroelectric power station of Mpiana Mwanga I and II, in order to guarantee energy to the mine and to the populations of Manono as well as to schools and public health centres.
The refurbishment of the hydropower plant would include the installation of up to 30.9 MW via three new turbine generators in the number two turbine hall at Mpiana Mwanga.

Low carbon footprint, green and responsible mining

Additionally, an independent greenhouse gas study also indicated that the Manono project is likely to have one of the lowest carbon footprints of any hard rock lithium mine in the world. This was mainly due to AVZ's strategic location next to the Mpiana Mwanga hydroelectric power plant which, once renovated, was expected to supply 99% of the Manono project's electricity needs.

The greenhouse gas assessment, which was carried out by leading global environmental and sustainability consultants Environmental Resource Management (ERM), assessed the emissions associated with all operations over the 20-year life of the Manono Project, processing facilities and road transport of products.

AVZ is also studying and planning important greenhouse gas mitigation measures , including:
Purchasing an electric mining fleet once commercially viable equipment becomes available;
Generating hydrogen from excess renewable electricity to enable the use of fuel cell electric vehicles; and the establishment of a 5,000 hectare sequestration plantation.

“We will continue to strive to improve our greenhouse gas emissions profile as we develop the world-class Manono Project,” Ferguson said. “Ultimately, we want the electricity produced by the Mpiana Mwanga hydroelectric plant to be used to run all our mining equipment, making the Manono project a 100% green mine”.

The technical experience present at the service of the country

Nigel Ferguson has been active in mineral exploration in the DRC since around 2000.
He has created and managed several businesses, some of which have been very successful and some of which have not.

In 2004, Nigel and his team discovered the Kibali gold deposit in the Haut-Uélé province. It was with the Australian company Moto Goldfields listed on the Australian Stock Exchange that Klaus Eckof managed, who knows him very well and respects him. It was involved in a standard JV with the DRC government.


After their discovery, they had drilled the ore body and eventually sold it to Randgold. This mine, discovered by Nigel and his team, now underpins much of the DRC's economy in the northeastern part of the country.

He also launched Tiger Resources (which was a Gécamines partner in the Société Minière de Kipoi – SEK, in Haut-Katanga on the Likasi Route), a company which was also lost to Chinese business interests which mismanaged leading to its closure and loss of jobs.

His management team at AVZ was hand-picked for their collective experience with a Congolese engineer Serge Ngandu who led Areva's operations in the Central African Republic and worked for several multinationals in the country and around the world.

At Dathcom Mining, they have developed the technical opportunity demonstrating that they are not “adventurers” but explorers, designers and developers of model mining projects with a long track record of success in the DRC.

The vision of AVZ and its boss Nigel Ferguson (to develop a monster, complete and fully green integrating project by developing the community that starts from exploration to production without requiring electricity in the country) intersects with that of the Head of State Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi, the government of the Republic would do useful work by working on win-win partnerships in the critical minerals sector of Katanga for a DRC that wants to be a Solution Country and a Solution Country to the needs of global warming and those of the energy transition.

AVZ is the first mining partner of the Congolese State to offer it the taking of shares on the stock market in Australia within the framework of the Dathcom Mining JV. An example for others to follow, an opportunity for the country.

By Benita Nkaya