The Billion-Dollar Railways Driving Biden’s Last Overseas Trip
December 3rd, 2024
Via Bloomberg, a report on US support for African infrastructure aimed at countering Chinese influence in the region: Twice a week, a cargo train groaning under hundreds of tons of copper concentrate pulls into the Angolan port of Lobito from mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The locomotive is made by Pittsburgh-based Wabtec Corp. but many of […]
Read more »DRC’s Gecamines Offers $1M To Block Chinese Deal with Cobalt Miner Chemaf
November 23rd, 2024
Via Reuters, a report on a contested DRC mining project: Chemaf cash crunch worsens as Norinco deal stalls US officials say alternative to Norinco must be found, source says Gecamines says China’s Norinco will not buy Chemaf assets The Democratic Republic of Congo’s state miner Gecamines is offering $1 million to buy cobalt and copper […]
Read more »Global Cobalt Reserves 2023
November 7th, 2024
Via Mining Visuals, a look at at where the world’s cobalt reserves are located: Cobalt is a critical mineral, essential for the production of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs), smartphones, and other renewable energy applications. As the world transitions to greener technologies, the demand for cobalt is projected to rise sharply. At the […]
Read more »How the U.S. Is Trying to Challenge China’s Cobalt Chokehold
October 16th, 2024
Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal, a report that the Biden administration has held talks with at least three firms about purchasing a Congolese company: The Biden administration has held talks with three firms in recent weeks about purchasing one of the world’s largest non-Chinese cobalt producers, according to people familiar with the matter, as […]
Read more »How This Conflict Mineral Gets Smuggled Into Everyday Tech
October 15th, 2024
Via the Wall Street Journal, a look at how coltan from militia-controlled mines in Congo is increasingly flowing into global supply chains for smartphones and computers: A black metallic ore critical to electric vehicles, telecoms and aeronautics is funding a brutal war in the Democratic Republic of Congo—despite U.S. efforts to stop the use of […]
Read more »China’s Zijin and Australia’s AVZ Grapple Over DRC’s Lithium
October 14th, 2024
Via The Africa Report, a report on the tussle between China’s Zijin and Australia’s AVZ over the DRC’s lithium: Home to one of the largest untapped lithium deposits in the world, the Manono site in the Democratic Republic of Congo has become the scene of a fierce commercial battle. To the naked eye, these thousands […]
Read more »Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.