Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) reportedly owes the Congolese state €800 million ($894 million) in tax royalties, as indicated by the government’s tax administration, DGRAD.
The Kamoto mine, which is jointly owned by Glencore (75%) and Gécamines (25%), stands as one of the largest mining operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In 2023, the facility exported 200,000 tonnes of copper and 16,000 tonnes of cobalt.
Despite the ongoing financial disputes, including the freezing of KCC’s local bank accounts earlier this year and tax collectors sealing off a warehouse where the company stores its metals, production at the Kamoto mine has remained unaffected, according to unnamed sources cited in press reports.
On September 24, officials visited the warehouse in Kolwezi and temporarily closed it due to an investigation, but it reportedly reopened the following day.
In the first half of 2024, the Kamoto mine produced 89,000 tonnes of copper and 11,000 tonnes of cobalt. This facility is part of KCC’s copper-cobalt mining operations in the DRC, which also include the KOV mine, producing 105,310 tonnes of copper and 17,740 tonnes of cobalt in 2023, and the Mashamba East mine, which produced 85,345 tonnes of copper and 13,866 tonnes of cobalt that same year, according to GlobalData, the parent company of Mining Technology.
The DRC government is reportedly reviewing KCC’s accounts to find a solution that balances the business climate with the interests of the state, with the finance ministry overseeing the investigation.
KCC’s total tax and royalty payments in the DRC amounted to $2.3 billion between 2021 and 2023. Since 2015, total copper exports from the DRC have tripled, positioning the country as the second-largest copper exporter globally, following Chile, which accounts for 19% of worldwide exports.
According to GlobalData, total copper production from the top ten producing countries is projected to rise from 17.7 million tonnes in 2023 to 18.3 million tonnes in 2024.
