KoBold Metals has billionaires including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos behind them. And now, they’re making a bet on lithium production in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
What’s happening:
- KoBold Metals has entered into a new deal with AVZ Minerals to acquire their stake in the Manono lithium project located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Why it matters:
- The Manono lithium project is widely considered to be one of the world’s largest hard rock lithium deposits in the entire world and is estimated to contain approximately 669M tonnes of lithium resources
Going deeper:
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo and AVZ Minerals previously got into a legal dispute over ownership and mining rights to the Manono lithium project which ultimately led to the northern part of the project being given to Chinese mining giant Zijin Mining
- As part of the new deal KoBold Metals will purchase the rights to the southern part of the Manono lithium project and Zijin Mining will retain their ownership rights to the northern part of the property
- KoBold Metals has publicly stated they plan to put $1B USD immediately into exploration and development at the Manono lithium project to advance the deposit
The intrigue:
- KoBold Metals has been cutting a flurry of new deals lately, including recently entering into a partnership with Aurion Resources (TSXV: AU) to explore their flagship Risti Property in Finland for critical minerals
