Exclusive-US firm in key Congo minerals deal overstated its mining experience, documents and sources show

By Clement Bonnerot

DAKAR, April 21 (Reuters) - A U.S. steadfast cardinal to the Trump administration's propulsion to unafraid captious minerals from Congo overstated its mining experience, Reuters has found.

Virtus, which bought Chemaf's mines successful March for $30 cardinal from the miner's shareholders, stated connected its website that it had a way grounds successful Congo owed to its operating of a copper and cobalt processing plant.

However, Reuters recovered Virtus didn't get the ‌plant and that the works has been idle since 2012, according to institution documents, tribunal records related to the disputed merchantability of the works and 5 sources with nonstop cognition of the matter.

The Chemaf woody represents ‌the archetypal carnal concern from the U.S.-DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) strategical minerals concern signed past year.

Washington agreed to assistance Congo pull U.S. concern successful its mining assemblage successful speech for preferential entree to captious minerals, successful a bid to trim China's longstanding dominance of Congo's mining industry.

A elder Congolese ​official acquainted with the support process said the information acquisition of elder Virtus executives was a origin successful Kinshasa's decision, arsenic Washington has been mediating bid efforts betwixt Congo and neighbouring Rwanda.

Virtus declined to supply an on-the-record remark astir the grade of its acquisition successful the mining assemblage for this story.

The DRC's mines ministry and authorities miner Gécamines - which holds the lease to Chemaf's mines - did not respond to questions astir Virtus' way grounds successful Congo and however the steadfast presented its credentials.

'FLAGSHIP U.S. INVESTMENT'

The U.S. State Department said it "fully supports" Virtus Minerals' efforts to get and make the assets.

"This acquisition volition service arsenic an archetypal flagship U.S. concern successful the DRC, to showcase that the U.S. backstage assemblage involvement is existent and volition catalyze further investment," a spokesperson said.

The spokesperson did ‌not respond to questions astir whether the information acquisition of Virtus executives was ⁠a origin successful Congo's determination and whether the woody comes with U.S. information guarantees.

One adept said that Virtus' way grounds successful mining raises questions astir the transparency of the U.S.-DRC concern and whether owed diligence was conducted.

"It is indispensable that the DRC authorities satisfies itself that Virtus has the indispensable technical, fiscal and operational capacity," said Jean-Pierre Okenda, enforcement manager of Sentinel of ⁠Natural Resources, an NGO promoting bully governance and transparency successful the mining sector.