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 (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, to the southeast of

Ndola Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia in terms of size and population, with a population of 627,503 (''2022 census''), after the capital, Lusaka, and Kitwe, and the second largest in terms of infrastructure development after Lusaka. It is the I ...

, 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. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

for processing at the SX/EW facility in Bwana. 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, 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 a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. Australia The term "frontier" was frequently used in colonial Australia in the meaning of country that borders the unknown or uncivilised, th ...

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 Congolese state-owned mining company in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In 2022 the DRC General Inspectorate of Finance blamed the government for putting t ...

. 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 ( French: ''Projet de résidus de Kolwezi'') also known as the Roan Tailings Reclamation (RTR; ''Récupération des résidus de Roan'') is a project in the Kolwezi mining area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR ...

, which was later sold to the Kazakh mining company Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation. 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 a ...

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 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