Control extended over geological data

The DRC plans to tighten control over geological data that guides billions of dollars in mining exploration, potentially extending state influence over the development of future mineral discoveries, reports CNBC Africa. The country is accelerating geological mapping, airborne surveys and digitisation of historical archives to build a comprehensive national geological databank on its critical minerals and reduce exploration risk, officials say. The plan will tighten ​Kinshasa’s grip on the world’s biggest cobalt producer and second-largest copper supplier, according to an official and seven industry sources, and could be even more significant than the country’s policies that reshaped the global cobalt market, some analysts say. Unlike other major mining jurisdictions such as Australia, however, Congo plans to keep control of access to the databank in state hands and charge for some information. Requests for access to information will be assessed against both investor needs and the protection of Congo’s ‘strategic interests’. Despite hosting some of the world’s richest deposits of copper, cobalt, lithium, tantalum and gold, Congo remains one of the least-explored major mining jurisdictions. The initiative comes as Congo sits at the centre of intensifying competition between the US and China for critical-mineral supply.