History
Each of the sites to be rehabilitated and mined by Nikanor has been previously operated by Gécamines, the parastatal mining company wholly-owned by the DRC state.
In the mid to late 1980s, the DRC was one of the world’s major copper producers and the world’s largest exporter of cobalt. Annual production volumes reached approximately 500K tonnes of copper and 35K tonnes of cobalt. At this point, the mining sector accounted for approximately 25% of the country’s GDP and three-quarters of its exports.
Subsequent political instability and low investment contributed to a precipitous decline in output. In 2000, Gécamines copper output fell to 28K tonnes (6% of peak output in 1985) and cobalt production fell to less than 4K tonnes.
In 2004, GEC (Nikanor) and Gécamines entered into a joint venture agreement to rehabilitate and operate the KOV, Kananga and Tilwezembe mines. The company DCP (DRC Copper Cobalt Project SARL) was formed for this purpose.
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