KoBold Metals, the mining startup backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, is expanding its footprint into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with plans to invest billions into the African nation’s large endowment of resources, the Financial Times reported.

Benjamin Katabuka, the country’s newly appointed director general, told the British newspaper that KoBold is looking to “go big” in the DRC, currently the world’s biggest producer of cobalt and the leading copper producer on the continent.

He added the company plans to apply for licences to explore for these two critical minerals as well as lithium, of which the DRC holds significant deposits but has yet to fully unlock.

These investments could potentially be “in the billions”, Katabuka said, as cited by the Financial Times article published late Saturday.

The report comes amid heightened trade tensions between the US and China, which saw the latter flex its dominant position in the critical minerals supply chain by placing export restrictions on rare earths.

In the Congo, many of its biggest mines are run by Chinese groups, while American companies have had little presence since Freeport-McMoRan sold its stake in the Tenke Fungurume copper mine to China’s CMOC in 2016.

Katabuka said the Congolese government is “interested in having some Western investors coming into the country” to balance China’s presence in the nation.

Congo minerals

KoBold’s push into Congo comes at a time when the African nation is negotiating with the US on a potential minerals pact. Earlier this year, DRC President Felix Tshisekedi offered a minerals-for-security deal to Washington in an effort to end the ongoing armed conflict with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.

On the jurisdictional risk, DRC’s Katabuka acknowledged that it has been “difficult” to do business in the country, but added that KoBold has assured that the company will demand “high standards” for its operations.

KoBold — which specializes in using artificial intelligence to identify untapped critical minerals deposits — has around 60 active projects across four continents. In Africa, its focal point has been Zambia, where last year it made what was the country’s largest copper discovery in a century. A move into Congo means the company would have a presence in Africa’s two largest copper producers. Earlier this year, it also expanded into Namibia, focusing on its deposits of lithium and nickel.

To support its critical minerals exploration, KoBold raised $537 million during its latest round from investors including Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Earthshot Ventures, Equinor, July Fund, Mitsubishi Corporation and Standard Investments. To date, the California-based company has raised $1 billion.

Source: MINING.COM