New Straits Times

Congo to declare its minerals as ‘strategic’ soon

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KOLWEZI: The prime minister of Democratic Republic of Congo will sign a decree in the coming days to designate cobalt and other minerals as “strategic” and therefore subject to higher royalties, Mines Minister Martin Kabwelulu said on Saturday.

The change is part of a new mining code, which mining companies oppose as it axes tax exemptions and hikes royalties and profit taxes.

The government has not yet formally announced which metals will be classed as strategic in the new code and subject to royalties of 10 per cent. Before the code was introduced, companies paid a rate of two per cent for cobalt.

“In the coming days, you will see the prime minister sign a decree to declare cobalt and certain other substances as strategic”, Kabwelulu said at a mining conference here.

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