CNMC-Invested and Constructed Mining, Copper Smelting Projects Go into Production

The Deziwa mining and LCS copper smelting projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), invested and constructed by China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co., Ltd (CNMC), were completed and put into production on Jan 15.

Located in southern Lualaba, DRC, Deziwa mining is the largest overseas copper-cobalt exploitation project ever invested by CNMC.

The area is home to 4.6 million tons of copper and 420,000 tons of cobalt.

The first phase of the project is valued at $880 million and uses the open cast working method and a wet smelting process to develop and produce copper and cobalt products.

It is expected that 80,000 tons of cathode copper and 8,000 tons of cobalt salt can be produced annually.

DRC's first modern pyrogenic-processed copper smelting project, LCS obtained a total investment of $470 million.

The outputs of the smelting project's first phase are 120,000 tons of raw copper, 240,000 tons of sulfuric acid, 30,000 tons of liquid sulfur dioxide and 11,000 tons of copper-cobalt alloy annually while directly creating 1,500 local jobs.

The beginning of operations of the two projects was a signal that CNMC, which did its first business in the DRC in 2004, has completed the DRC's full mining industrial chain and initiated its wet and pyrogenic process smelting.

CNMC has made great contributions to China's overseas mine development and smelting industry. It developed China's first overseas copper mine, wet process copper factory and pyrogenic process copper factory in Zambia and built China's first overseas economic and trade cooperation zone in Africa.

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)