Chengtun’s $300mn DRC Copper-Cobalt Deal Signals China’s Deepening Grip on Critical Mineral Supply Chains

Copper Mining Chinese mining group Chengtun Mining has agreed to take an indirect 30 percent stake in a copper-cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, marking another decisive step in Beijing’s long-running campaign to secure upstream control over the metals that underpin its smelting, refining, and battery manufacturing complex. The DRC copper-cobalt deal, valued at $300mn for a 50 percent interest in the project’s holding vehicle, reinforces a pattern of accelerating Chinese resource acquisition at a moment when global copper concentrate markets are tightening and...