Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), a Luxembourg-based mining company, has secured a $150 million pre-export financing agreement with the Bank of China London Branch and Glencore International. The funds will finance ERG's operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including Metalkol’s which focus on reprocessing copper and cobalt tailings.

A pre-export financing agreement allows a company to borrow money using its future export revenues as collateral, providing liquidity before product sales. The $150 million financing is backed by a contract to supply copper cathodes from ERG's Metalkol operation in the DRC. According to the company, the funds will help sustain the Group's ongoing investments at Metalkol and in the wider Kolwezi region.

"We are delighted that Glencore and the Bank of China have collaborated with us to set up this pre-export financing facility for Metalkol, which will enable us to prioritize the company's investment program," said Nicolas Treand, CEO of ERG Africa.

The DRC’s mineral reserves, especially cobalt and copper, make the country strategic for ERG. The firm, 40% owned by the Kazakh state, has four mines in the DRC: Frontier, Comide, Metalkol, and Boss Mining, as well as other projects at various stages of development.

Earlier this year, the Congolese government suspended nine of ERG's subcontractors working in its copper and cobalt mines. According to Bloomberg, they were suspended for "non-compliance with local content rules." Before that, the Ministry of Mines had suspended operations at Boss Mining, an ERG-owned copper and cobalt operation, citing environmental pollution. In February 2024, Congolese company Gécamines expressed interest in buying back these assets to strengthen its role in the global metals market, but no developments have been announced since.

Louis-Nino Kansoun