Highlights

• New Tearline report uses satellite imagery to document expansion of Chinese-owned cobalt and copper mines in DRC's Lualaba Province.
• Reveals increased on-site processing capacity at Sicomines, TFM, and Kisanfu operations.
• Analysis shows China is strengthening its battery-metal supply chain dominance by expanding processing infrastructure—not just extraction.
• Reduces dependency on third-party refiners and increases control over EV and grid materials.
• The report, published by NGA's Tearline Project with Yale researchers, highlights how infrastructure upgrades and processing expansion give China greater pricing power and system control over critical minerals supply chains.

---

A new Tearline investigative report (opens in a new tab) written by Prince Osaji with Luca Girodon, Keith Pemberton, Mateo Bodon, and Ty Kushi (Yale University) argues that Chinese-owned or Chinese-majority-controlled mining operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are not merely extracting more cobalt and copper—they are expanding on-site processing and logistics capacity in ways that could further tighten China’s grip on global battery-metal supply chains.

Using satellite imagery analysis alongside production and ownership research, the authors focus on three major sites in Lualaba Province—Sicomines, Tenke Fungurume (TFM), and Kisanfu—and conclude the pattern is consistent: more equipment, more infrastructure, more throughput, and more processing on site, strengthening China’s position in the materials that power EVs, grid buildouts, and increasingly AI-era electrification.

Study Methods—What Tearline Did

Tearline’s team uses open-source Google Earth imagery and commercial Maxar satellite images to track visible changes over time—new buildings, new haul roads, expanded tailings storage facilities, newly paved trucking areas, added processing equipment, and signs of higher operational tempo. They then pair those visuals with background research (ownership stakes, production figures, political disputes, and selected third-party reporting) to interpret what the physical changes likely mean: more ore moving, more material processed, and greater export-ready volumes.

This matters because satellite imagery doesn’t “prove” production—but it does reveal industrial scaling in places where direct transparency is often limited.

Key Findings—What’s Changing at the Mines

Sicomines (opens in a new tab) (owned by China Railway Group Limited): The report highlights new or expanded packaging and trucking areas, plus the addition of what the authors interpret as a leaching tank and related conveyors—signaling increased or upgraded processing capacity. It also notes expanding drainage pools and increased equipment footprints that suggest higher activity levels.

Tenke Fungurume (TFM): (opens in a new tab) Tearline points to visible growth in logistics and equipment management areas, new warehouse-like structures, and tailings pond dynamics consistent with an active processing and waste-management circuit. The report ties the physical expansion to CMOC’s stated expansion ambitions and to known royalty disputes that temporarily halted exports.

Kisanfu (opens in a new tab) (China Molybdenum Co., Ltd.): The report flags construction of multiple circular thickeners, possible conveyor systems, expanded tailings facilities, new basins and drainage features, and expanding waste rock dumps—signals consistent with more material being processed and larger waste-handling requirements.

Why This Matters—The “Processing Monopoly” Angle

Rare Earth Exchanges™ has repeatedly reported that China’s advantage is not simply access to ore. It is system control: extraction, processing, plus downstream manufacturing scale. Rare earth elements are the clearest example—China dominates separation, refining, and magnet value chains—but the same playbook appears to be unfolding in battery metals.

If Chinese-controlled mines in the DRC expand on-site processing, they reduce dependency on third-party refiners and shorten the chain between ore and exportable intermediates (such as copper cathode and cobalt products). That strengthens China’s ability to influence availability, pricing power, and reliability—even when the upstream resource is located outside China.

Controversial Issues Raised

Tearline places heavy emphasis on human rights and labor risks, noting persistent concerns around artisanal mining, coercion, discrimination, and hazardous conditions. It also highlights governance and deal-structure controversies—especially whether infrastructure-for-minerals agreements delivered what was promised and whether the DRC captured fair value.

What is the Tearline Project

Tearline.mil is the public website for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's (NGA) Tearline Project, a congressionally-supported platform that publishes unclassified open-source intelligence (OSINT) from academics and non-profits, using satellite imagery and data to create in-depth reports on strategic, economic, and humanitarian topics for the public, government, and intelligence community. It serves as an outreach effort, providing transparency and actionable intelligence, especially on China's activities and global issues, countering malign influence and informing decision-makers.

Citation: Osaji, P., Girodon, L., Pemberton, K., Bodon, M., & Kushi, T. (2025). Democratic Republic of Congo: Expansion of Chinese-Owned Cobalt and Copper Mines in the Lualaba Province. Tearline (Tearline Original). https://doi.org/10.63836/pxvc-010m (opens in a new tab)

©!-- /wp:paragraph -->