In 2026, China Molybdenum will achieve a major breakthrough in its copper and cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The annual copper cathode production capacity will exceed 760,000 tons, and the annual cobalt metal production capacity will simultaneously increase to more than 100,000 tons.
This achievement is supported by two world-class mines, TFM Copper and Cobalt Mine and KFM Copper and Cobalt Mine, with a total of 6 production lines in production.
The TFM copper and cobalt mining area covers an area of over 1,500 square kilometers. Luoyang Molybdenum indirectly holds 80% of the equity and adopts an open-pit mining model.
Its copper ore reserves are 277.5 million tons, the average copper grade is 2.84%, and it is equipped with an integrated mining, dressing and smelting industrial chain. Its products are copper cathode and cobalt hydroxide.
The KFM copper and cobalt mine is located 33 kilometers southwest of the TFM mine. China Molybdenum indirectly holds a 71.25% interest. The first phase of the project will reach production in the second quarter of 2023.
The mine has copper ore reserves of 66.5 million tons, with an average copper grade of 2.91% and an average cobalt grade of 1.19%. Both copper and cobalt grades are higher than those of the TFM project.
After acquiring these two mines, CMOC actively promoted production capacity expansion.
Through technological transformation and mixed ore expansion projects, the total production capacity of TFM mine will be increased to 450,000 tons/year in 2023, ranking among the top five copper mines in the world.
It took only two and a half years for the KFM mine to reach production and become one of the world’s largest cobalt mines.
In 2023, the company cooperated with Bump Times, a subsidiary of CATL, to achieve upstream and downstream synergy and stabilize product sales channels.
In 2025, China Molybdenum will produce 741,100 tons of copper, a year-on-year increase of 13.99%, and cobalt output will reach 117,500 tons, a year-on-year increase of 2.89%, ranking first among global cobalt producers.
The company’s output guidance for 2026 shows that the annual output target of copper metal is 760,000 tons to 820,000 tons, and the annual output target of cobalt metal is 100,000 tons to 120,000 tons. The pace of production capacity release continues to accelerate.
The increase in production capacity is due to the potential tapping and transformation of existing production lines and the intelligent transformation of mines.
TFM mine optimized the process flow, KFM mine built an ore characteristic database and intelligent ore blending model, and the grinding station efficiency increased by more than 30% year-on-year.
The company has copied domestic mature intelligent mining technology to the Congo (DRC) project, and applied AI intelligent ore distribution system, 5G network and remote control technology, cluster collaborative truck intelligent dispatching system, etc. to improve resource recovery rate and production efficiency.
China Molybdenum also performed well in aspects such as mineral processing technology, tailings treatment, and cost control.
The ore dressing adopts stage grinding and stage separation processes, and the purity of the cathode copper in the hydrosmelting process can reach more than 99.99%.
A large tailings reservoir has been built for tailings treatment, and the recovery rate of mineral processing wastewater has reached over 85%.
Intelligence and process optimization have driven the continued decline in production cash costs. In 2025, the company’s overall operating costs will decrease by 11.56% year-on-year.
In addition to the core business of copper and cobalt, the company also has niobium, molybdenum, tungsten, nickel, gold, phosphate fertilizer and other businesses.
The niobium business is the second largest niobium producer in the world. The molybdenum business has a high profit level. The nickel business has formed synergy with the existing cobalt business. The gold business has become a new profit growth point. The phosphate fertilizer business provides stable cash flow.
The company also has outstanding performance in cross-border mergers and acquisitions and operations, human resources, community responsibility, policy compliance, technological innovation, etc.
Its countercyclical acquisition strategy reduces acquisition costs and improves project returns.
In the future, with the implementation of expansion projects such as KFM Phase II and TFM Phase III, the company’s copper and cobalt production capacity will continue to increase, its global market share will further expand, and it will occupy a more important position in the global mining landscape.
