KoBold Metals Granted Rights to Explore for Lithium in Congo

KoBold Metals has been granted seven permits to search for lithium and other minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The US company, backed by billionaires including Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, applied for the licenses last month shortly after signing an exploration pact, which Congo’s presidency said aims to “open the way to American investments” in the mining sector. The central African nation is the world’s biggest producer of cobalt, the second-largest source of copper and has vast deposits of lithium and tantalum.