A mining start-up backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos is expanding into the Democratic Republic of Congo, in a bet that the resource-rich nation will be crucial to US efforts to compete with China for minerals that are needed for the energy transition.
KoBold Metals, which deploys artificial intelligence to identify untapped mineral deposits, was betting “big” on DR Congo, said Benjamin Katabuka, its newly appointed director-general in the country. The company would recruit staff in the country and planned to apply for licences to explore for lithium, copper and cobalt, he said.
The push into DR Congo comes as the African nation seeks to secure a minerals deal with the US, in talks that are part of President Donald Trump’s ambitions to break dependency on China for metals.