(Togo First) - Buenassa is seeking financial backing to acquire a strategic domestic mining asset that is up for sale in the Katanga region, Chairman and Chief Executive Eddy Kioni said on Monday.

The announcement followed a meeting with Michael Kayembe, the new chief executive of United Bank for Africa (UBA) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A source close to the Congolese company said the asset in question is mining firm Chemaf.

Bloomberg reported that Buenassa formally expressed interest in the copper and cobalt producer last November. The company’s future is being closely watched because of its assets and its role in the competition for critical minerals in the DRC.

Kioni said the acquisition would allow Buenassa to speed up its move toward vertical integration, from extraction to refining, trading and strategic stockpiling. He said it would secure feedstock for the refinery for more than 20 years.

He added that the plan would reduce operational risk and transform Buenassa from a greenfield industrial project into a major mining operator. The goal is to move from a planned project to a company producing mining assets capable of supplying a refinery and building an integrated value-chain model.

That approach sets Buenassa apart from several rival bids that are structured more around financial and commercial control of Chemaf. By comparison, state miner Gecamines, another Congolese contender, has proposed acquiring the company with a view to reselling it while retaining a maximum stake of 25%, Bloomberg reported.

Through its subsidiary Gecamines Trading, the state miner would market production corresponding to its stake to the United States, in line with a commitment the DRC made under a strategic agreement signed with Washington last December.

Industrial Goals

Buenassa says its bid is driven by industrial objectives, aimed at securing raw material for a refining project in the DRC rather than capturing output for export. That would align the project with the Congolese government’s push for local mineral processing.

Details of Buenassa’s offer remain unknown. Gecamines is reportedly considering an initial outlay of just under $1 million, an audit of the company and a plan to settle its liabilities, which media reports estimate at $900 million. Part of that debt is held by Trafigura, which arranged a $600 million loan in 2022 to finance development of the Mutoshi mine in Kolwezi.

Securing an extraction asset appears crucial for Buenassa. It would make the project easier to finance by providing collateral that could underpin borrowing for the refinery’s construction.

So far, the company has secured a $3.5 million public grant from the Industry Promotion Fund (FPI), though only part of it has reportedly been disbursed. The funding enabled completion of a scoping study.

The study puts the cost of the project’s first phase at $700 million, according to a document seen by Bankable. At that stage, the plant is expected to produce 30,000 tonnes of copper cathodes and 5,000 tonnes of cobalt sulphate a year.

The second phase is estimated to cost $2 billion. At that stage, output would rise to 120,000 tonnes of copper and 20,000 tonnes of cobalt a year. Those figures have yet to be refined.

Challenging Outlook

The revised timeline now forecasts a pre-feasibility study in early 2026 and a feasibility study in the second quarter of 2027. Financial close is projected for the third quarter of 2027, and production is not expected before 2029, compared with 2027 previously.

To finance the strategy, Buenassa is pitching a multi-layered approach combining African commercial banks, regional development finance institutions, local financial institutions, international strategic partners led by the United States, and the Congolese state. Since June 2025, the state has held a 10% stake in the Buenassa Ressources project company.

The meeting with UBA focused on building a financing structure capable of supporting both the refinery’s construction and the acquisition of an extraction asset.

Winning control of Chemaf may prove difficult. Guy-Robert Lukama, chairman of the Gecamines board, told Reuters in late 2024 that the state miner would not let it go to a rival bidder. Gecamines is in a strong position because it holds the permit on which Chemaf is developing the Mutoshi project.

The state is the sole shareholder of Gecamines and holds a 10% stake in Buenassa and 5% in Chemaf. It must decide while weighing its mining policy priorities.

Pierre Mukoko