Miner and trader Glencore say the restart of operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo increased cobalt production in 2018 by 54 percent while copper output rose 11 percent.
In an update to investors in December, the London-listed company said it stuck to its 2019 production guidance
Production of cobalt, used in batteries for electric vehicles, reached 42,200 tonnes in 2018 while copper hit 1.453 million tonnes.
Glencore’s Katanga Mining unit in Congo ramped up in late 2017.
Katanga’s Kamoto mine in the DRC is one of the world’s largest producers of cobalt.
However cobalt production is not translating into sales, as Glencore has been forced to keep the metal stockpiled at the site until it can find a long-term solution to remove excess uranium in the cobalt.
Katanga Mining, Glencore’s subsidiary in the DRC, said it had been told by the
government to suspend a project to build a new system to remove uranium from
its cobalt supplies which makes it unsafe for export.
“On January 30, 2019, the Company’s 75 per cent operating subsidiary Kamoto Copper Company received a letter from the DRC Minister of Mines following the inspection conducted by the DRC Government in the fourth quarter of 2018,” Katanga said in a statement.
“The Minister of Mines raised certain concerns with the technical solutions identified by KCC and requested that KCC suspend the project to build an Ion exchange plant until further notice. KCC intends to engage with the Ministry of Mines to understand and address their concerns.”