A combination of higher commodity prices, new projects coming online and expansion at existing operations will make the DRC the fastest-growing major mining market in the world this year, despite mounting political and regulatory risks.
That’s according to a study by BMI Research, a unit of the Fitch Group, which predicts that the DRC’s mining industry value will see average growth of 17.7% in 2018, outperforming other comparable mining markets.
“Rising prices in key commodities will be the driving force behind improving domestic mining production growth, prompting the reopening of Glencore’s copper-cobalt Katanga mine, while an expansion at Randgold’s Kibali mine will support domestic gold output,” reads the report.
“Despite this positive outlook, we foresee downside risks to our forecasts emerging from rising political instability as President Kabila ignores calls to step down and the passing of a new mining charter which will raise existing royalty rates for miners.”
Zambia also expects to increase its copper output to around 1.5 million tonnes this year, the country’s mines minister Christopher Yaluma said earlier this year at the annual Investing in Africa Mining Indaba in Cape Town.
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17.7% Predicted annual growth in DRC’s mining industry value.
