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The DRC Council of Ministers, at its 87th extraordinary session on 29 May 2026, adopted decrees expanding the list of strategic mineral substances from 3 (cobalt, germanium, coltan) to 9, adding lithium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, uranium, and rare earth elements. Under the 2018 Mining Code framework, strategic minerals attract a 10% royalty versus the standard 3.5% for base metals, representing a nearly threefold increase in the state's royalty take on the newly classified substances. The measure was presented by Minister of Mines Louis Watum Kabamba and confirmed by RTNC state broadcaster and Bloomberg reporting (31 May 2026). DRC produces an estimated 60–70% of global tantalum supply; the reclassification extends upstream royalty escalation to six additional high-value critical materials — including Manono lithium deposit output, tantalum refinery streams, and any tungsten, niobium, uranium, or REE operations active or under development.

On 13 May 2026, Entreprise Générale du Cobalt (EGC — the DRC state cobalt monopsony), Trafigura Pte Ltd, and EVelution Energy LLC signed a tripartite MOU in Madrid to establish a long-term supply framework for Congolese cobalt hydroxide to the United States. EGC will originate cobalt hydroxide from artisanal and small-scale mining; Trafigura will provide logistics and marketing services; EVelution will process the material into battery-grade cobalt sulfate and alloy-grade cobalt metal at a new first-of-kind commercial-scale refinery in Yuma County, Arizona (construction 2027, target completion 2029). The arrangement is designed to supply approximately 40% of projected US cobalt demand for aerospace, defence, and EV batteries. The MOU operationalises the December 2025 US-DRC Strategic Partnership Agreement at the commercial supply-chain level, creating a primary DRC→US cobalt flow that bypasses Chinese refiners.

At its 86th ordinary meeting on 10 April 2026 the DRC Council of Ministers adopted two interlocking decrees: Décret 1 creates the Réserve Stratégique de Substances Minérales Stratégiques (Strategic Reserve of Strategic Mineral Substances), a sui generis public-purpose stockpiling instrument covering cobalt, coltan (tantalum-niobium), and germanium; Décret 2 amends ARECOMS' founding decree, expanding its statutory mandate from export-quota regulator to strategic-reserve operator, authorized to constitute physical stocks through compulsory allocation of quota volumes, voluntary producer acquisition, and royalty-in-kind receipts, and to intervene in international markets via timed releases or withholding to stabilise prices. The instrument materially extends Kinshasa's market- intervention reach beyond the cobalt-only quota framework adopted in February 2025, adding coltan and germanium to ARECOMS' jurisdictional perimeter and giving the DRC a price- stabilisation tool comparable to the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve and China's State Reserve Bureau base-metals stockpile.

On 22-23 February 2026, President Félix Tshisekedi signed and publicly read on RTNC (state television) a series of presidential ordinances replacing the entire leadership of three strategic state-owned mining companies: Gécamines (copper/cobalt), SAKIMA (Société Aurifère du Kivu et du Maniema — eastern DRC 3T minerals and gold), and SOKIMO (Société Minière de Kilomoto — Kilo-Moto gold sites). New appointees include Baraka Kabemba as DG of Gécamines, Guy Robert Lukama as DG of SAKIMA, and Yannick Nzonde Mulundu as DG of SOKIMO. The sweeping governance reshuffle came approximately two months after the December 4, 2025 DRC-US Strategic Partnership Agreement on Trade and Investment, signalling a strategic repositioning of DRC state mining apparatus toward a US-aligned critical-minerals framework.

Signed on 11 February 2026 at Mining Indaba (Cape Town) in the presence of DRC Minister of Mines Louis Watum Kabamba, the MoU grants Entreprise Générale du Cobalt (EGC — the DRC state cobalt monopsony) mining rights over an ERG Africa-owned exploitation area in Lualaba Province to pilot a structured artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) formalisation model covering organised cooperatives, designated ASM zones, controlled buying points, and compliance with safety and labour standards. EGC provides operational leadership and ERG Africa acts as enabling partner; ARECOMS, SEAMAPE, CEEC, and Gécamines provide regulatory and certification support, with GIZ as technical partner. The MoU is the primary public-private implementation vehicle for the December 2025 artisanal processing suspension (`2025-12-19-drc-artisanal-copper-cobalt-processing-suspension`), establishing the re-entry channel through which ASM cobalt supply re-enters formal supply chains under EGC monopsony control.

On 3 February 2026, Glencore and the US-government-backed Orion Critical Mineral Consortium (led by Orion Resource Partners LP and the DFC) signed a non-binding MOU for Orion CMC to acquire a 40% stake in Glencore's DRC interests — Mutanda Mining (Mumi) and Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) — implying a combined enterprise value of approximately $9 billion. The transaction directly operationalises the December 2025 US-DRC Strategic Partnership Agreement at the equity level, giving the US government-backed buyer rights to appoint non-executive directors and to direct its share of copper and cobalt production to US-aligned offtakers. In 2025, Mumi and KCC together produced 247.8 kt copper metal and 33.5 kt cobalt, making this the largest single US critical-mineral equity-capture move in the DRC to date.

On 4 December 2025, the United States and the Democratic Republic of the Congo signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement on Trade and Investment, executed at a White House trilateral ceremony alongside the parallel U.S.-Rwanda framework and witnessed by President Trump, President Tshisekedi (DRC), and President Kagame (Rwanda). The Agreement creates a Strategic Minerals Reserve (SMR) and a Strategic Asset Reserve (SAR) under DRC sovereignty, gives U.S. persons preferential access to SAR assets, and commits DRC and its state-owned enterprises to route at least 30% of their commercialised cobalt volumes through the Sakania-Lobito Corridor within five years. A Joint Steering Committee (JSC) co-chaired by State and DRC's Ministry of Economy holds its inaugural meeting on 4-5 February 2026, designating the initial SAR asset list and launching implementation. The DFC announced a proposed equity investment in a Gécamines-Mercuria copper/cobalt joint venture as the first commercial vehicle under the framework.

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, announced on 2025-09-17 a US$500 million strategic private placement in TSX/NYSE-listed Ivanhoe Mines, subscribing for 57,516,666 common shares at C$12.00/share; the placement closed 2025-09-29, giving QIA approximately 4% of Ivanhoe's issued and outstanding shares. On 2025-11-21 the two parties announced a follow-on memorandum of understanding to collaborate on exploration, development and preferential financing of critical-minerals projects across Africa, including support for Ivanhoe's Western Forelands exploration programme in the DRC. Ivanhoe's principal assets are the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex (DRC) and the Platreef platinum-palladium-nickel project (South Africa).

The DRC Council of Ministers adopted the projet de décret establishing the Fonds d'Investissement Stratégique de la République Démocratique du Congo (FIS-RDC) at its 54th ordinary session on 15 August 2025, under Finance Minister Doudou Fwamba. Presidential ordinances dated 28 February 2026 appointed a five-member Board of Directors, making the fund operational. The FIS-RDC is a state-directed sovereign vehicle mandated to capture revenues from extractive industries — principally copper, cobalt, coltan, and petroleum — and channel them into strategic national development projects including infrastructure, energy, agriculture, and economic diversification, while valorising state assets and attracting private and institutional co-investors.

DRC's Cadastre Minier (CAMI) granted KoBold Metals seven exclusive exploration permits covering approximately 1,600 km² in Tanganyika (four permits, Manono territory) and Haut-Lomami (three, Malemba Nkulu territory) provinces, valid for five years. The permits were issued August 27, 2025 following a July 2025 accord de principe between KoBold and the DRC Ministry of Mines; an official handover ceremony was held September 3, 2025, presided by Minister of Mines Louis Watum Kabamba. KoBold Metals — backed by Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Sam Altman — becomes the first US company to hold formal DRC lithium exploration rights over the Manono deposit, one of the world's largest confirmed hard-rock lithium resources (~400 Mt estimated), placing it in direct strategic competition with Chinese-backed Zijin/La Cominière whose rights over the same deposit are contested in ICSID arbitration by AVZ Minerals.

International Resources Holding (IRH), an Abu Dhabi investment vehicle in the International Holding Company (IHC) orbit, completed on 22 July 2025 the acquisition of a 56% majority stake in TSX-V/JSE-listed Alphamin Resources Corp. through its wholly-owned subsidiary Alpha Mining Ltd. IRH acquired 718,990,967 common shares from Tremont Master Holdings (a subsidiary of US private-equity group Denham Capital) at C$0.70/share, a total consideration of approximately US$367 million; Tremont retained roughly 0.8% of Alphamin's outstanding shares. The definitive agreement was signed 3 June 2025. Alphamin operates the Bisie tin mine complex (Mpama North and Mpama South) in North Kivu, DRC, one of the world's highest-grade tin operations and the DRC's largest tin mine, supplying a meaningful share of global mined tin.

Law No. 2 of 11 January 2024 (Gazzetta Ufficiale Serie Generale n. 10 of 13 January 2024, in force 14 January 2024) converts with amendments Decreto-Legge 15 November 2023, n. 161 ("Disposizioni urgenti per il «Piano Mattei» per lo sviluppo in Stati del Continente africano") into permanent law. The statute establishes Italy's first formal Africa-policy framework: a four-year strategic plan adopted by Presidential Decree (subject to parliamentary opinion), a Steering Committee ("Cabina di Regia") at Palazzo Chigi chaired by the Prime Minister, and a Mission Structure inside the Presidency to coordinate implementation. The Plan organises intervention along five thematic pillars (education/training, health, agriculture, water, energy / climate-energy nexus) across an initial nine pilot countries — Algeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Republic of Congo, and Tunisia — with an announced ~EUR 5.5bn envelope drawn primarily from the Italian Climate Fund (~EUR 3bn) and pre-existing development-cooperation resources (~EUR 2.5bn). Positions Italy as a transit corridor and industrial gateway between African resources and EU industry, layering onto the EU Global Gateway / Critical Raw Materials Act perimeter.

On 23 October 2023 Manono Lithium SAS — a joint venture between Zijin Mining's overseas subsidiary Jinxiang Lithium Limited (~55% stake) and the DRC state-owned entity COMINIERE (~35-39%) — secured the exploration licence for the northeast block of the Manono Lithium Project (formerly disputed PR 13359-NE) after Congolese courts returned full title to COMINIERE, which then invited Zijin to jointly develop it. A mining licence was granted in September 2024, and Zijin commissioned initial lithium production at the site in June 2026, targeting approximately 120,000 t/yr LCE in 2026 and up to 270,000–320,000 t/yr at full capacity. Manono NE is now among the world's largest lithium mines under Chinese operational control, deepening China's existing hold over DRC critical-mineral output (CMOC cobalt/copper, CNMC/Sinohydro copper) and establishing the DRC as a top-tier lithium producer inside the Chinese supply-chain sphere.

Angola's Ministry of Transport formalised a 30-year concession to Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR — Trafigura 49.5% / Mota-Engil 49.5% / Vecturis S.A. 1%) for the operation, management and maintenance of the Lobito Corridor — comprising the 1,300 km Benguela Railway from the Port of Lobito to Luau (Angola-DRC border) and the Lobito port mineral terminal. The international tender was won on 4 November 2022; the concession contract was signed on 4 July 2023 at a ceremony attended by the Presidents of Angola, the DRC and Zambia. LAR commenced operations in January 2024. The concession is paired with the trilateral Lobito Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency Agreement (LCTTFA), signed at Lobito Port on 27 January 2023 by the Transport ministers of Angola, the DRC and Zambia, which establishes the cross-border customs/transit framework for the corridor.

On 9 May 2016 CMOC Group (China Molybdenum Co., HKG:3993 / SHA:603993) signed agreements to acquire Freeport-McMoRan's 56% stake in Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for USD 2.65 billion, with additional financing from China Development Bank. A concurrent transaction acquired TF Holdings' 24% stake, bringing CMOC's total to 80% with Gécamines retaining 20%. The transaction closed on 16 November 2016 following regulatory approvals from the DRC Ministry of Mines, the US CFIUS (approved without conditions), and Chinese MOFCOM. Tenke Fungurume is the world's second-largest cobalt mine and fifth-largest copper mine, located in Lualaba Province. At the time of acquisition it produced approximately 16,000 tonnes of cobalt per year (hydroxide) and 180,000 tonnes of copper cathode, representing roughly 20% of global mined cobalt supply. CMOC subsequently expanded production to approximately 50,000 tonnes of cobalt per year by 2023-2024 through the Kisanfu (KFM) discovery development — bringing combined TFM+KFM output to ~115,000 tonnes of cobalt annually, or roughly 38% of DRC cobalt production and approximately 25% of global supply from a single operator. The acquisition was the largest Chinese overseas mining transaction of 2016 and established China's dominant structural position in the cobalt supply chain at the mine level — upstream of both DRC export controls (ARECOMS quota system, filed 2025-02-22) and Chinese processing/re-export controls on battery-grade cobalt compounds. CMOC is simultaneously the world's largest cobalt producer and an entity subject to Chinese government export licensing for the same materials — a concentration structure without precedent in critical minerals. The China Development Bank provided a $2.68 billion loan facility financing the majority of the acquisition, making this an explicit policy-bank-backed strategic asset purchase consistent with NDRC guidelines on overseas critical mineral investment priorities. Sinosure provided political-risk insurance cover on the DRC exposure.

In May 2011 Jinchuan Group, one of China's largest nickel and copper producers (Gansu Province, state-owned), agreed to acquire South African mining company Metorex Limited for ZAR 9.1 billion (approximately USD 1.36 billion), besting a competing bid from Vale. Metorex's principal asset was a 77% stake in Kinsenda Copper Company (DRC), operator of the Kinsenda underground copper mine in Katanga Province — at the time one of the world's highest-grade active underground copper mines, with ore grades of approximately 5.5% copper. The acquisition gave Jinchuan effective control of Kinsenda, adding high-grade DRC copper production to its existing Chinese and African operations. It was one of the first Chinese state-enterprise acquisitions of a JSE-listed mining company and established a template for Chinese SOE outbidding of Western and emerging-market competitors for African copper assets. The deal was financed by state-directed credit from China Development Bank and represents one of approximately 14 high-value mining transactions (each >$100M) in which Chinese policy-bank lending was deployed to secure copper and cobalt assets in the DRC-Zambia copper belt in the 2010-2015 period.