Editor’s Note
This article highlights a new U.S.-DRC partnership aimed at establishing ethical and legal standards for artisanal cobalt and copper mining, a critical sector for the global energy transition.
A new partnership between Kinshasa and Washington was launched this January to regulate the legal and responsible artisanal mining of cobalt and copper from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. government is supporting a pilot project to be implemented in Lualaba Province.
The goal, according to a press release from the U.S. Embassy published on January 22, is to make artisanal copper and cobalt mining a true profession, with products from this work meeting international market standards.
The project “Professionalizing the Artisanal Copper-Cobalt Supply Chain in the DRC” is being implemented in collaboration with the subsidiary of GECAMINES, the Entreprise Générale du Cobalt (EGC), created in 2019, with the ultimate aim of regulating the purchase and marketing of artisanal cobalt in the DRC.
This project is funded to the tune of USD 2 million. It will enable the Entreprise Générale du Cobalt to improve its field operations and implement standards to guarantee the responsible mining of artisanal copper and cobalt from the DRC, according to international standards, including the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.
This professionalized artisanal mining will, in line with the spirit of the project, provide guarantees for responsible mining practices and respect for labor and environmental standards. The project also implies that supply chain traceability will be ensured.