The new code was approved by parliament in January and would see royalties on cobalt going up five-fold to 10 percent.
“Journalists ask me whether the president has promulgated the code. I won’t answer that question here. The code is with the president,” said minister Martin Kabwelulu when he spoke to reporters and mining executives at the mining indaba in Cape Town.
Mining companies such as Randgold, Glencore and China Molybdenum said they will challenge the new law through international arbitration and are lobbying Kabila not to sign it.
Randgold’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said the DRC government should re-open negotiations with the companies.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau from Cape Town, South Africa, Rough&Polished