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Miners Face Sudden Cost Increases After Congo Law Overhaul

  • New law overrides miners’ 10-year tax, customs-stability deals
  • Glencore CEO flew to Congo to meet Kabila over changes to law
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The Democratic Republic of Congo canceled contract guarantees and hiked a key royalty in sweeping last-minute changes to a mining law that will have immediate financial costs for every mining project in the country.

The country’s parliament finalized a revised mining code on Jan. 27, after both the lower and upper houses introduced increasingly onerous fiscal and regulatory reforms to already contested legislation. The modifications significantly raise the cost of doing business for investors in Africa’s biggest copper producer, while boosting the state’s share of mining revenue.