Australian miner AVZ Minerals said on Jan. 15, 2026 it had received the full amount of funding pledged last year by its partner Suzhou CATH Energy Technologies.

The Chinese firm provided a $20 million facility to AVZ, which says it holds rights to the Manono lithium project in Tanganyika province in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

AVZ said when the facility was announced in January 2025 that the funds would cover working capital needs and activities over the following 12 months, including costs linked to its dispute with the Congolese state over the project. The disbursement signals CATH is continuing to back AVZ.

Under the January 2025 agreement, CATH would gain several rights if AVZ succeeds in its claim to the Manono deposit. These include the option to buy 100% of the project’s lithium output for five years, or until AVZ recovers expenses financed under the deal. CATH would also have the right to acquire a 30.5% indirect stake in the project. The outcome remains uncertain.

Manono is the largest lithium deposit identified so far in the DRC. AVZ carried out exploration there for several years through a joint venture with state-owned Cominiere. Cominiere later ended the partnership and in 2023 teamed up with China’s Zijin Mining to develop the same project.

AVZ has launched multiple international legal actions to challenge the loss of its stake, but no final ruling has been issued.

A new player has also emerged: KoBold Metals. As ties between Kinshasa and Washington have warmed amid plans for new U.S. investment in the Congolese mining sector, the California-based startup signed an agreement in principle with the Congolese government last July for mineral exploration in the country.

KoBold has since obtained seven exploration licences, four of them in the Manono area.

Under the agreement in principle, KoBold is expected to help resolve the dispute between AVZ and the Congolese state. Two months earlier, KoBold and AVZ said they had reached a framework agreement under which AVZ would sell its commercial interests in Manono at what the companies described as a fair value.

AVZ, which had paused arbitration proceedings against the DRC to create what it called a “climate conducive to discussions” aimed at an amicable settlement, has since resumed the case.

Zijin Mining, which obtained an operating permit in September 2024 for the area claimed by AVZ, has said it expects to start production in 2026. It has provided few updates on the mine’s construction.

PM, with Ecofin Agency