Congo Lists Lithium as Strategic Mineral, Royalty Rate Increased to 10%
0xBroomberg
The DRC has reclassified lithium, rare earths, and four other mineral groups as strategic resources, tripling the royalty rate from 3.5% to 10% — just as the country's lithium sector enters its first commercial production phase.
What exactly changed?
The DRC government approved a decree adding lithium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, uranium, and rare earths to the strategic-minerals list.
Royalties for these minerals jump from the 3.5% rate for ordinary base metals to 10% — roughly a threefold increase.
In plain terms = these minerals used to be taxed as "ordinary metals." Now they're taxed as "national strategic resources," and the bill nearly triples.
Why now?
The DRC's southeast hosts one of the world's largest hard-rock lithium deposits, which entered commercial mining for the first time this year.
China's Zijin Mining (紫金矿业) plans to begin production at its Manono lithium project in June; KoBold Metals launched what it calls the world's largest lithium exploration program in April.
This means → the government set the toll before large-scale shipments begin — miners now need to re-run their project economics.
What other leverage does the DRC hold?
The DRC is the world's largest source of tantalum, extracted from coltan — a mineral widely used in portable electronics.
Cobalt, germanium, and coltan were already on the strategic list; this decree widens the net further.
This reflects a systematic push to bring every geopolitically valuable mineral under a high-royalty framework — the DRC is steadily raising its bargaining chips.
How are miners responding?
As of the announcement, neither Zijin Mining nor KoBold Metals had commented on the rate change.
The DRC's mining ministry stated the move aims to "enable our country to benefit from the critical and geostrategic resources contained in its soil."
Put simply = the government believes it was under-charging; miners' silence speaks for itself.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.