A June 29 order took effect immediately for concentrate exports, while taxes on economically significant mining by-products will phase in over three months and can be waived for a year in strategic cases.
Democratic Republic of Congo has banned exports of copper concentrate and cobalt concentrate in a sharper push to force more domestic processing and keep a larger share of mining value at home. The June 29 order, signed by Mines Minister Louis Kabamba Watum, Foreign Trade Minister Julien Paluku Kahongya and Economy Minister Daniel Mukoko Samba, also introduces a new tax regime for economically significant mining by-products, with a three-month transition period, while the export ban takes effect immediately. The order allows the mines minister to grant one-year export waivers under strategic circumstances, a move that could affect major operators including CMOC, Glencore, Huayou Cobalt, Zijin Mining, Ivanhoe Mines and Eurasian Resources Group.