Gécamines of the DRC Signs Contract to Sell Up to 240,000 Tonnes of Zinc Concentrate Over Two Years

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 16, Swiss commodities trader Mercuria announced that Gécamines, the state-owned mining enterprise of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has completed a concentrate offtake agreement with the Kipushi zinc mine. Under the arrangement, Gécamines will, through a joint venture between the two parties, sell up to 240,000 tonnes of Kipushi zinc concentrate to the international market over the next two years, with a focus on Western supply chains. The agreement also leaves room for further expansion of sales scale after two years.

Under this sales cooperation, Gécamines is responsible for securing the concentrate offtake rights for the Kipushi mine, while Mercuria provides support in international trade, logistics organization and market channels. The scope of cooperation includes supplying zinc concentrate produced at the mine to international customers. The two parties did not disclose the specific sales price, shipping batches or delivery schedule in this announcement.

In February this year, Gécamines announced that it was advancing commercial cooperation with Kipushi Corporation, the company operating the Kipushi mine, and planned to acquire offtake rights to nearly 50% of the mine's zinc concentrate output. The relevant arrangement is being advanced on the basis of the mineral product purchase contract rights that Gécamines has held since 2023. With the completion of the offtake agreement in October, the international zinc concentrate sales business previously planned by the two parties has entered the stage of specific contract execution.

Gécamines also plans to develop the commercial value of the germanium contained in the concentrate covered by this offtake, and is studying the possibility of obtaining potential financing support through Project Vault, a U.S. strategic reserve program for critical minerals, for related strategic mineral reserve arrangements. The commercialization plan for germanium resources and the related financing remain at the research stage.