Lonshi Mine is a copper mine in

Katanga Province Katanga was one of the four large provinces created in the Belgian Congo in 1914. It was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into the Tanganyika Province, Tanganyika, Hau ...

of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, to the southeast of

Ndola Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia and third in terms of size and population, with a population of 475,194 (''2010 census provisional''), after the capital, Lusaka, and Kitwe, and the second largest in terms of infrastructure development aft ...

, Zambia.

Operations

The mine produces high-grade oxide ore that was transported to

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

for processing at the SX/EW facility in

Bwana This is a list of English language words that come from the Niger-Congo languages. It excludes placenames except where they have become common words. Bantu origin * banjo – probably Bantu ''mbanza'' *basenji – breed of dog from the Congo ...

. Both the mine and the Bwana Mkubwa facility away were owned by

First Quantum Minerals First Quantum Minerals is a Canadian-based mining and metals company whose principal activities include mineral exploration, development and mining. Its main product is copper, which accounts for 80% of revenues as of 2016. First Quantum's com ...

(FQM). In January 2003 FQM announced an increase in estimated reserves from 295,000 tonnes to 356,000 tonnes of contained copper. In 2006 the mine produced about 520,000 tonnes of ore grading 10.3% copper, and copper cathode production was 51,068 tonnes.

Controversy

In December 2007

Moise Katumbi Moise is a given name and surname, with differing spellings in its French and Romanian origins, both of which originate from the name Moses: Moïse is the French spelling of Moses, while Moise is the Romanian spelling. As a surname, Moisè and Mo ...

, the governor of Katanga province, ordered

to stop exporting copper ore from the Lonshi mine to Zambia. The stoppage was related to a dispute over contract terms. In May 2010 a Congolese court ruled that FQM's Lonshi and

Frontier A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts o ...

copper mines had been awarded illegally and that they should revert to state-owned

Sodimico Sodimico (''Société de développement industriel et minier du Congo'') is a state-owned mining company in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Early years Sodimico took over several mining properties from the Union Miniere du Katanga in ...

. According to FQM the cancellation of their licenses was due to FQM's decision to contest the expropriation of their

Kolwezi tailings project The Kolwezi tailings project also known as the Roan Tailings Reclamation (RTR) is a project in the Kolwezi mining area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to recover copper from the tailings, or processed ore, from mining in the region si ...

, which was later sold to the Kazakh mining company

Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation PLC (ENRC) was a public, Kazakhstan/Central African-focused, multinational leading diversified natural resources company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It had activities in integrated mining, proc ...

. FQM's share of the properties was transferred first to Sodimico, then to Sodifor, a joint venture between Sodimico and Fortune Ahead, a shell company listed in Hong Kong with Saul Valt as the sole registered director. In August 2011 the

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ma ...

news agency reported that Sodimico had sold its 30% share in the Frontier and Lonshi mines for under than one sixteenth of their estimated value. The minister of Mines denied that any sale had been made. In 2021,

Eurasian Resources Group Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) S.à r.l. is a large mining and raw materials supplier with operations in Kazakhstan and Central Africa. In its current form, the company began in December 2013 after it acquired the Eurasian Natural Resources Corp ...

sold its interest in the Lonshi mine to the China-based JCHX Group. Although the mine has been closed since 2008, JCHX planned to put $390 million into reopening the mine.

References

{{reflist , refs= {{cite web , url=http://www.miningweekly.com/article/kansanshi-shows-its-mettle-2005-08-05 , work=Mining Weekly , title=Kansanshi shows its mettle , author=Andrew Lanham , date=5 August 2005 , accessdate=2011-11-07 {{cite web , url=http://www.resourceinvestor.com/News/2007/12/Pages/First-Quantum-Reopens-Frontier--Lonshi-Mine.aspx , work=Resource Investor , title=First Quantum Reopens Frontier, Lonshi Mine Remains Closed , author=Jon A. Nones , date=2007-12-17 , accessdate=2011-11-07 {{cite web , url=https://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE77G0KH20110817 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000923/http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE77G0KH20110817 , url-status=dead , archive-date=March 4, 2016 , title=Congo minister denies reports of mine stake sale , date=Aug 17, 2011 , work=Reuters , accessdate=2011-11-08 Copper mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mining in Haut-Katanga Province

Operations

Controversy

See also

References