A joint copper-mining venture between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) state-owned mining company, Sicomines, and two Chinese companies – the Sinohydro Corp and China Railway Group Limited – has produced its first copper.
Reuters news agency has cited the DRC mines ministry as saying that the mine, which is located in the south-east of the country, produced more than 1 million tonnes of copper for the first time in 2014. Production is however expected to fall to 974 000 tonnes in 2015 due to electricity shortages.
China's state-run Export Import (ExIm) Bank is providing most of the financing for the copper mine, which is one of the largest in the world.
