A temporary administrator appointed by a Congolese court to run the world’s second-largest cobalt mine ordered majority Chinese owner CMOC to suspend marketing and export of its production, letters seen by Reuters showed.
CMOC spokesman Vincent Zhou said the company had not received the letters and that production and exports were continuing as normal. CMOC says the mine remains under its control despite the February court order, whose implementation Congo’s justice minister lifted a stay on last month.
The letters, dated June 29 and July 1, mark the latest escalation in a dispute between CMOC, which owns 80% of TFM, and Democratic Republic of Congo’s state mining company Gecamines, which holds the remaining 20%.
Congo’s government says it suspects CMOC understated reserve levels to reduce the amount of royalties it pays to Gecamines. CMOC, which was previously known as China Molybdenum, denies having done so.
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