Chinese mining giant CMOC announced a remarkable increase in copper and cobalt production during the first quarter of the year, with copper output rising by 123% and cobalt production soaring by 392%.
Operating primarily in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), CMOC achieved a copper production of 147,500 metric tons and cobalt production of 25,200 tons in the initial three months of 2024.
A significant contributor to this surge was the expansion of mining capacity at its Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) site, which saw a notable increase in March.
This expansion elevated the annual capacity to 450,000 tons of copper and 37,000 tons of cobalt, positioning TFM among the world’s top 10 copper mines, as stated by CMOC.
The company’s efforts to boost production and exports received a boost after resolving a dispute with the DRC’s state miner in April, paving the way for increased operational efficiency.
CMOC’s impressive cobalt output in 2023, surpassing that of Swiss-based Glencore, solidified its position as the world’s largest cobalt producer, with production reaching 55,526 tons.
In the first quarter of 2024, copper sales surged by 44 times to 125,500 tons, while cobalt sales escalated by 24 times to 243,000 tons, reflecting the company’s robust performance.
Looking ahead, CMOC has set ambitious targets for 2024, aiming for copper production between 520,000 to 570,000 tons, a significant increase from the 419,539 tons achieved in 2023.
