New York - Improving stability in the Democratic Republic of Congo is attracting miners back to some of the world's richest copper ore, but war-ravaged infrastructure means it will be years before output returns to pre-conflict levels, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
Sector analysts say that annual copper output will go from virtually zero to perhaps 100 000 to 120 000 tons in five years, with the potential annual output of between 500 000 and one million tons in 10 to 15 years.
In the 1980s, the Congo's copper output was consistently 400 000 to 500 000 tons a year, about seven to eight percent of global production. The African nation has known resources in named development projects at 37 million tons contained copper, the paper said.
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Congo's mining industry was government-controlled with few foreign mining companies active before the 1997-2002 civil war that left many mines and projects with proven resources idle.
Legislation in 2002 opened the way for negotiations between mining companies and the country's state-owned Gecamines with a view to establishing partnerships and joint ventures to rebuild the crippled sector.
Besides Tenke Mining and Phelps Dodge, other miners active in the Congo include Adastra Minerals, which recently renewed its joint venture with Kumba Base Metals, and Anglo American.
That said, western mining companies also face competition from Chinese groups, eager to supply the world's largest user of copper and may have more tolerance for risk. China's NFC Mining Africa already owns the Chambishi copper mine in neighbouring Zambia, the paper said.
Improving infrastructure in Zambia's copper belt, which forms one geological entity across the Zambia-Congo border, is attracting miners from across the border, the paper said.
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