KoBold Metals Seeks Over $1 Billion Lithium Investment in DRC Amid Legal Dispute Over Manono Mine
Benjamin Katabuka, CEO of KoBold Metals in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officially submitted exploration permit applications to the DRC’s Mining Registry this Wednesday.
Following the submission, Katabuka held a high-level meeting with Popol Mabolia Yenga, CEO of the Mining Cadastre.
This development comes on the heels of a strategic agreement signed on July 17, 2025, between the Congolese government and KoBold Metals, an American start-up leveraging artificial intelligence to locate and extract critical underground minerals.
The agreement—signed in Kinshasa by DRC’s Minister of Mines, Kizito Pakabomba, and Benjamin Katabuka—focuses on three key objectives:
Digitization of geological data
Use of advanced mining technologies
Development of the Manono lithium project in Tanganyika province
KoBold Metals, backed by U.S. investors and with global ambitions, aims to develop the Manono deposit—considered one of the largest untapped lithium reserves in the world.
The company plans to invest over $1 billion into the project. CEO Kurt House has already met with Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi to fast-track operations.
Manono holds an estimated 132 million tonnes of lithium, with a projected annual production capacity of 4.5 million tonnes.
Given the global demand for lithium, a key component in electric vehicle batteries, the DRC government envisions the site becoming a “large-scale, long-term mine.”
However, the project has been entangled in a prolonged legal dispute. Although initially controlled by AVZ Minerals, an Australian company, the Congolese Ministry of Mines revoked AVZ’s development permit in 2023, citing project delays.
The rights were then transferred to a Zijin Mining subsidiary, prompting AVZ to initiate legal proceedings at the International Court of Arbitration and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.
Despite this legal uncertainty, KoBold Metals has declared its intention to resolve the dispute and fully acquire and develop the Manono project.
The company’s broader plan includes launching a nationwide exploration program across the DRC, using AI and cutting-edge technologies to identify other critical mineral sites with the potential to become “world-class mines.”
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