PARIS - A subsidiary of the Democratic Republic of Congo's state mining company Gecamines said on Tuesday it had secured $75 million in funding to build a new hydro-metallurgical unit to produce materials used in the manufacturing of semiconductors.
The move takes advantage of DRC's wealth in minerals used to manufacture mobile phones, computers, and other electronic devices.
The diversification comes following Gecamines February 7 announcement that the state-owned-enterprise (SOE) plans to explore for minerals needed for the transition to a lower carbon economy, including lithium, tin, and rare earths.
"Our geologists will aim to organize prospection campaigns on all our sites to look for lithium, tin, cobalt, coltan, titanium, wolframite, gold, rare earths, etcetera," Chairman Alphonse Kaputo Kalubi said then as part of efforts to diversify Gecamines' activities.
The April funding announcement addresses the mining concerns' strategies.