Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) is majority owned by CMOC Group, a Chinese mining conglomerate listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (2060.HK) and Shanghai Stock Exchange (603993.SH). CMOC holds an 80 percent interest in TFM. Gécamines, the DRC state mining company, holds the remaining 20 percent.
Current ownership
CMOC Group: 80% CMOC acquired its TFM interest in a two-stage transaction. In 2016, it purchased an initial stake from Freeport-McMoRan for approximately $2.65 billion. In 2022, it acquired the remaining Freeport position for approximately $550 million, consolidating full majority control. CMOC operates TFM as its primary DRC copper-cobalt asset.
Gécamines: 20% Gécamines' stake is a non-dilutable minority interest representing the DRC state's participation in TFM. It generates dividends, royalties, and access payments that flow to Gécamines and ultimately to government accounts. Gécamines has no operational role at TFM.
What TFM produces
In 2023, TFM produced approximately 450,000 tonnes of copper and approximately 18,000 tonnes of cobalt, based on CMOC's published annual figures. The operation runs a combination of heap leach for oxide copper ore and flotation-SX-EW for sulphide ore. Cobalt is produced as a co-product of the copper process and sold primarily as cobalt hydroxide on off-take to CMOC's affiliated refining operations in China.
Why TFM matters
TFM's 18,000 tonnes of cobalt production represents more output from a single mine than any other industrial cobalt operation in the world. For cobalt market observers, TFM is the reference operation: when production or export disruptions occur, their magnitude is measured relative to TFM's run rate. The 2022 force majeure dispute between CMOC and the DRC government — which temporarily halted exports — illustrated this directly, as cobalt prices moved materially within days of the announcement.
