Is the DRC building a battery value chain?
The DRC is taking initial steps toward a battery value chain, primarily through the Kamoa-Kakula copper smelter project and through the DRC-Zambia battery-materials corridor initiative, but commercial-scale battery value chain development within the country is not expected in the near term. Current exports are dominated by copper cathode and cobalt hydroxide — both intermediate products that undergo further processing outside the DRC.
What exists now
The most concrete step toward in-country processing is the Kamoa-Kakula copper smelter under construction by Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin Mining. The smelter will produce blister copper from copper concentrate, adding one processing step within the DRC. When operational, it will be the most significant smelting capacity in the country in decades.
Cobalt is exported almost entirely as cobalt hydroxide (30–40 percent cobalt content). No cobalt sulfate or refined cobalt metal production currently operates in the DRC at commercial scale.
What the government wants
The DRC government has expressed a preference for local processing through export restrictions threatened on copper concentrate, the DRC-Zambia MOU on a battery-materials corridor, and Forum participation. None of these has yet produced structural shifts in the processing geography of DRC minerals.
Why it is difficult
Power availability is the primary constraint. Cobalt and copper refining are energy-intensive. The DRC's operational grid capacity in the Copperbelt is insufficient for large-scale new refining without major power infrastructure development. The Inga 3 project — the most discussed power expansion — has not progressed to construction as of 2026.
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Why is the DRC important for cobalt?
The DRC is important for cobalt because it is the world's largest mined source, accounting for more than 70 percent of global cobalt mine supply. It also holds approximately 46 percent of global cobalt reserves, according to the USGS. No substitutable geography exists at the volumes the global battery industry currently requires.