Rio Tinto Has Talks With Congo Over Prize Lithium Deposit
Should Rio secure a deal, it would signal an escalation in the miner’s appetite to operate in some of the world’s most challenging jurisdictions.
Photographer: Cynthia R Matonhodze/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Rio Tinto Group has held talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo about developing one of the world’s biggest hard rock lithium deposits, in the latest sign of the miner’s enthusiasm for the battery metal.
The conversations in recent weeks with Congolese authorities focused on Rio getting involved in transforming the Roche Dure resource into a lithium mine, according to people familiar with the matter. The discussions are at a preliminary stage and might not result in any agreement, the people said.