Sicomines Copper-Cobalt Mine: Chinese Financing for Transition Minerals

Due to a landmark resource-for-infrastructure (RFI) deal that reshaped the DRC’s extractive industry, the Sicomines copper and cobalt mine sits at the center of debates over resource sovereignty in mineral-rich countries. Located in the Mutshatsha Territory of the Kolwezi District, the construction of the majority Chinese-owned mine began in 2013 after extensive negotiations. Chinese creditors not only bankrolled the development of the mine, but also supported its operations.

This mining site profile provides a detailed overview of Chinese state-directed financing, ownership, and operations of the Sicomines mine. It includes granular information on the mine's funding sources (loans, lenders, and co-financing), acquisition history, ownership structure, implementation milestones, ESG challenges, and risk mitigation measures.

The insights in this profile are derived from AidData’s Chinese Financing for Transition Minerals Dataset, Version 2.0 and the sources referenced therein. This dataset captures over $98 billion of official sector financial commitments that China provided to 47 low-, middle- and high-income countries between 2000 and 2023 for projects involving the extraction or processing of critical minerals. An accompanying report, Power Playbook: Beijing’s Bid to Secure Overseas Transition Minerals, analyzes the 1.0 version of this dataset and provides evidence about the nature, scale, and scope of the PRC’s overseas financing for the extraction and processing of energy transition minerals.

Note: This profile was first published in February 2025 and updated in January 2026.