KoBold Plans to Invest Over $50 Million in DRC to Advance Lithium Exploration

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 25, U.S. mining company KoBold Metals is advancing exploration for lithium and other critical minerals in the Manono area of southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Since 2025, the company has obtained 14 exploration licenses covering more than 3,000 square kilometers, and plans to invest a cumulative total of more than $50 million in the DRC by early 2027. The project is still in the exploration stage and has not yet entered resource declaration, feasibility studies, or mine development.

KoBold has established a field base in Manono, and its exploration team has been continuously conducting surface geochemical sampling since April of this year, currently collecting approximately 2,000 soil samples per week on average. The samples are mainly used to identify geochemical anomalies associated with lithium-bearing pegmatites and to adjust the next phase of drilling targets accordingly. Company officials said the exploration results obtained so far are "very encouraging," but have not yet disclosed data on resources, grade, or orebody scale.

During exploration, field geologists use high-precision GPS and networked tablets to collect location and sample information, and the relevant data are uploaded in real time to KoBold's computing system in California, USA. Its AI platform simultaneously integrates historical geological maps, old drilling data, satellite imagery, and newly collected geochemical data to build a subsurface mineralization prediction model and, on that basis, re-rank subsequent drilling locations. This technology is currently used to improve the efficiency of exploration target screening and does not mean that a commercial orebody has been confirmed.

The institutional basis for KoBold's entry into the DRC's exploration system comes from a mineral exploration principles agreement signed with the DRC government in July 2025. The agreement was signed by the DRC Minister of Mines and the head of KoBold's DRC operations, and is mainly intended to establish a cooperation framework between the two sides for critical mineral exploration and the introduction of U.S. investment.

The Manono area is an important lithium mineralization concentration zone in southeastern DRC. KoBold currently clearly regards lithium as a key local exploration target, while its global business covers critical minerals such as copper, lithium, and cobalt. The company has not yet announced the scale of the first round of drilling for the Manono project, the timing for resource disclosure, or the future mine production timeline. Work at the current stage remains focused on surface sampling, model updates, and optimization of drilling targets.