Government says still plans to change mining code

February 12, 2016 8:05 AM

"However, in the context of targeting potential investors interested in the mining sector, the mines minister sought to reassure that the legal framework that governs the sector is the mining code of 2002, still in effect," he added.

An employee stands in an open pit at Banro's Twangiza mine in eastern Congo, September 28, 2011. REUTERS/Tom Kirkwood

Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa's top copper producer, has not dropped plans to revise its mining code, the mines ministry said on Thursday, in an apparent contradiction to comments made by the mines minister on Wednesday.

The minister, Martin Kabwelulu, told an industry conference in Cape Town on Wednesday that the government had decided to retain the 2002 code governing the terms for mining operations in the country, abandoning a three-year revision process that met with fierce industry opposition over proposed rises in tax and royalty rates.

But in an email sent to London-based campaign group Global Witness on Thursday, Kabwelulu's chief of staff Valery Mukasa said that Kabwelulu simply meant to say that the existing code remains in effect until it is replaced.

"The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has not renounced revising the mining code. Quite the contrary," Mukasa said in the email.

Congo's government initiated the review of the mining code in 2012 in an effort to increase its revenues from the sector. The country is also the world's leading producer of cobalt and extracts significant quantities of gold, diamonds and tin.

A draft code was submitted to parliament last March but has yet to be adopted amid continuing opposition from industry.

Global Witness on Wednesday criticised the reported decision to drop the revision process, saying that it represented a missed opportunity to improve management of a sector riddled with corruption.

The industry-led chamber of mines applauded the decision, which it said was necessary given the state of metals markets.

Benchmark copper fell 25 percent last year and copper prices are expected to hit their lowest average in more than a decade this year, according to a Reuters survey of metal analysts last month.

Foreign miners with interests in the country include Glencore, Randgold Resources and Freeport-McMoRan.