Congo extends state control over mining with bid to lock down geological data

By Maxwell Akalaare Adombila

DAKAR, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Democratic Republic of Congo plans to tighten control over geological data that guides billions of dollars in mining exploration, potentially extending state influence over the development of future mineral discoveries.

The country is accelerating geological mapping, airborne surveys and digitisation of historical archives to build a comprehensive national geological databank on its critical minerals and reduce exploration risk, officials say.

The plan will tighten Kinshasa’s grip on the world’s biggest cobalt producer and second-largest copper supplier, according to an official and seven industry sources, and could be even more significant than the country’s policies that reshaped the global cobalt market, some analysts say.

A nationwide geological mapping programme has gained momentum this year after a $180 million contract with Spain’s Xcalibur, a global leader in geodata mapping, began in January, Raoul Wazenga Vitima, director general of the National Geological Survey of Congo (SGNC), told Reuters.

The project is one of several ongoing mapping programmes in the country, funded by the government, mining revenues and international partners, with results fed into the national geological databank, which is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2026, Vitima said.

Unlike other major mining jurisdictions such as Australia, however, Congo plans to keep control of access to the databank in state hands and charge for some information. Requests for access to information will be assessed against both investor needs and the protection of Congo’s “strategic interests”, Vitima said.    

“The data generated under these programmes constitute a strategic asset of the Congolese state,” Vitima said.

TIERED ACCESS SYSTEM  

Despite hosting some of the world’s richest deposits of copper, cobalt, lithium, tantalum and gold, Congo remains one of the least-explored major mining jurisdictions. SGNC estimates systematic exploration covers barely 20% of the country.

The Xcalibur project is surveying more than 700,000 square kilometres (270,272 sq. miles) using airborne geophysics, digitised data and advanced analytics to identify exploration targets and unlock vast unexplored areas of Congo, Vitima said.

Xcalibur did not respond to a request for comment. 

Exploration spending surged after the end of Congo’s 1998-2003 civil war, rising to a record $389.2 million in 2012 from $57 million in 2005, according to S&P data. 

Companies invested $130.7 million in exploration in 2024, the highest in Africa, but activity remains concentrated in the copper-cobalt belt of Lualaba and Haut-Katanga, leaving large parts of the country poorly mapped.

Congo’s databank will operate a tiered access system, with basic geological information available free of charge while access to more sensitive datasets will be fee-based, Vitima said, arguing that revenues from certain data products would help fund continued exploration and mapping in the country. He did not specify the fee structure and the categories of data to be levied.

U.S.-CHINA COMPETITION

The initiative comes as Congo sits at the centre of intensifying competition between the United States and China for critical-mineral supply.

Both countries have struck separate agreements with Kinshasa aimed at increasing cooperation in the sector.

Vitima said the database was not aimed at favouring either China or the U.S., adding that Congo’s strategy is to diversify its mining investor base and apply the same access rules to all companies regardless of origin.

Greater control of geological data could allow Kinshasa to shape where exploration capital flows and which future deposits of copper, cobalt, germanium and other critical minerals are developed, three mining executives and a geologist said.

“Control of geological data is increasingly becoming a strategic policy tool,” said Mark Jessell, a geology and geophysics expert at the University of Western Australia. 

“It affects not only what a country mines today, but what it may discover and develop tomorrow.”

Congo’s cobalt reserves grew by over 76% between 2000 and 2025 to an estimated 6 million tons, more than half of known world reserves, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, as exploration expanded estimates of the country’s vast Copperbelt deposits. 

“A transparent system based on objective criteria reduces the informational advantage of operators already established in the country, attracts a greater diversity of investors and strengthens Congo’s negotiating position,” said Jean Jacques Kayembe Mufwankolo, Congo head of the Norway-based Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which promotes accountable management of oil, gas and mineral resources.

PROTECTING STRATEGIC INTERESTS

Moise Liboto Makuta, Congo head of extractives policy group Natural Resource Governance Institute, said having comprehensive geodata means the government negotiates from a position of knowledge, not guesswork.     

“Better negotiated deals mean more revenue reaching the public purse, not just the company and a few well-placed officials,” he added.

Xcalibur’s mapping survey is a three-year contract and Congo has similar partnerships with France’s state geological survey BRGM, South Africa’s Council for Geoscience, U.S.-based KoBold Metals and Atlas Park, Vitima said. It also has partnerships with Japan’s Solafune and Belgium’s AfricaMuseum.

SUPPLY CHAIN CONTROL

Congo is not alone. Canada and Saudi Arabia are also moving to consolidate geological data, reflecting a broader push by governments to treat mineral intelligence as national infrastructure, a mining executive and a consultant familiar with the matter said.

The sources asked for anonymity to be able to discuss sensitive matters.

Vitima said Saudi Arabia was also using Xcalibur for national geological mapping and that Congo was sharing its experience in geological surveying and critical minerals with the kingdom as Riyadh seeks to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons and into mining.

Unlike export controls, geological data influences future supply and whoever controls the best information often influences where exploration capital flows next, said Grant Sanden, chief executive of Canada-based mining technology firm GeologicAI. 

A 2015 Western Australia study found that every A$1 million ($706,200) invested in government geoscience generated A$19.8 million in additional private exploration spending.

FROM EXPORTS TO GEODATA

Congo has already shown its ability to influence global minerals markets through government intervention.

A cobalt export ban imposed in February 2025 when prices hit a decade low around $10 per lb or $22,046 a metric ton, followed by a quota system, helped swing the market from surplus into deficit and lifted cobalt prices to about $26 per pound. 

Analysts and mining executives say control of geological intelligence could eventually prove even more significant.   

“The problem is rarely whether minerals exist,” said Greg Agnew, chief executive of Canadian mining technology company Ideon Technologies. 

“The challenge is how quickly deposits can be understood, financed and developed. Better geological information helps compress that timeline.” 

Some industry participants favour a more open model, citing the impact on transparency and mining investments.

California-based mining exploration company KoBold Metals says it has made more than 260,000 pages of Congo’s historical geological records publicly available. 

In neighbouring Zambia, the firm helped open roughly 150,000 records through a government fee-based portal. Vitima said similar fee-based models exist in Tanzania and South Africa.

“Our objective is to have open data for explorers and researchers,” KoBold’s Congo head Benjamin Katabuka said. 

Major mining jurisdictions such as Australia, Canada and the UK provide largely free online access to vast repositories of geological information.

Vitima said those established mining jurisdictions generated much of their geological data decades ago and had already benefited from its commercial use. Congo is still building its knowledge base and views the information as a strategic asset, hence the fees to fund continuous explorations.

Makuta at the Natural Resource Governance Institute said the real test of Congo’s system will be “whether the government applies its rules for releasing data fairly and openly, rather than letting insiders get early access.”

(Reporting by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila; Additional reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by Pratima Desai and Susan Fenton)