Signing of two agreements for the tapping of potash and phosphate
10 Jul, 2018
Two mining agreements were signed on July 10th, 2018 in Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo) between the Congolese Minister of Finance and Budget, honourable Calixte Nganongo, and the companies Cominco and Luyan des mines du Congo in the presence of his counterparts Pierre Oba, Minister of Minining and Geology and Fidele Dimou, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation.
The signing of the two conventions are respectively about the concession of the potash ore of Mboukoumassa and of the phosphate deposit of Hinda. The signing of the agreements is going to be for a period of 25 years and considered as the first stage of implementation of the projects. After this stage, the signed conventions will be sent to the supreme court for review so as to determine if they comply with the laws. It will also be sent to the council of ministers for adoption before they are passed as laws by the parliament.
The minerals targeted are often used for the making of fertilizers, laundry products, food additives and soft soaps. They are important for farms and marketing. «The exploitation of the deposits will enable Congo to be well positioned at the regional and international levels», said Mr. Marie Louis Djama, Chief Executive Director of Mining. The agreement signed wih Luyan company is about tax exemption, transport of products and environmental aspects. The two projects will be implemented step by step based on the availability of funds It is also the case of the company Cominco. «The main project amounts to 6 million dollars, which is around 4 billion CFA francs. This project is not going to be easy to fund. We are lucky to start with the first stage which amounts to 40 million dollars or so» said the CEO of Cominco Patrick Stevenaert.
As regard the issue relating to environmental assessment resulting from mining activities, the heads of the two companies reassured that they had received the compliance certificate . «We have carried out a comprehensive environmental and social assessment that we have submitted to the Congolese government for review» Patrick Stevenaert said.
