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Copper JV to add initial 50 000 t/y to DRC copper output, start operating by year-end

SICOMINES SITE VISIT The tour included a walk through the Sicomines plants, which are expected to start production later this year with an initial copper output of 50 000 t/y, gradually rising to an expected output of 400 000 t/y over the next 20 years

MOÏSE EKANGA LUSHYMA The Sicomines Sarl project will generate tax revenues for the Democratic Republic of Congo, employ local labour and facilitate the transfer of knowledge

19th June 2015

By: Ilan Solomons

Creamer Media Staff Writer

  

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Members of the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the US embassy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other foreign diplomats last month toured facilities and assessed the progress of the new Sicomines joint venture (JV), which is the DRC’s first “infrastructure for minerals” partnership.

Sicomines JV partners include Congolese mining parastatal Gecamines, a Chinese State-owned hydropower engineering and construction company and Chinese joint stock company China Railway Group.

The JV partners will oversee the project, which includes the construction and operation of two copper plants in Katanga province.

Led by Moïse Ekanga Lushyma, executive secretary of the Bureau de Coordination et du Suivi du Programme Sino-Congolais, the tour included a walk through the Sicomines plants, which are expected to start production later this year with an initial copper output of 50 000 t/y, gradually rising to an expected output of 400 000 t/y over the next 20 years.
The Sicomines plants represent a “critical development” and capacity- building endeavour for the DRC, employing 3 000 workers, 70% of whom will be Congolese.

Additionally, the Sino-Congolese JV will disburse about $3-billion for the construction of roads, dams, hospitals and schools, including infrastructure projects, such as the $660-million Busanga hydro- electric project.

“The progress made by the Sicomines partnership reinforces the DRC’s commitment to strengthening and professionalising its mining sector and to help increase accountability in the industry,” said Lushyma during the tour.

He added that Sicomines would start production in the coming months, and that the project would have positive effects for both the Congolese people and the DRC’s mining and business sectors.

“This mutually beneficial cooperation with our Chinese partners is a strong example for others interested in investment opportunities in the DRC. When Sicomines builds a plant in the DRC, it sources equipment globally and is a job creator in China, the US and France,” stated Lushyma.

Moreover, he pointed out that the project would generate tax revenues for the DRC, employ local labour and facilitate the transfer of knowledge.

“It is a win-win situation for all. Sicomines is the real proof of concept for us that we have sought under the leadership of President Joseph Kabila and will continue to replicate with other investors.”

In partnership with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the DRC has implemented liberalising reforms designed to increase business activities and create jobs across the country, including reforms in key industrial and commercial sectors.

Lushyma further noted that the DRC’s infrastructure was being rebuilt at an “unprecedented rate”, with new roads, schools and hospitals under construction.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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