Glencore’s Congo Deal Signals How Far Washington Is Willing to Go on Critical Minerals

Glencore, a Swiss mining company, is in talks to sell a 40% stake in its copper and cobalt operations in the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to a United States (US)-backed consortium. The two mines, Mutanda and Kamoto, collectively account for over 20% of global cobalt supply and around 2% of global copper supply.

Copper and cobalt are critical minerals vital for clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and defence technologies.

According to Bloomberg, the Glencore transaction could be the first step in creating a new American mining company designed to accumulate assets across Africa’s Copperbelt. The buyer group is led by Orion Resource Partners, a New York-based specialist investor in mining and metals, with sovereign backing from the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), an American government agency that invests in development projects around the world, primarily in low- and middle-income countries.

The announcement of the potential sale by Glencore came days before Washington convened its inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial earlier this week, hosting more than 50 countries, where US officials made clear that mineral security has moved to the top tier of national strategy. Speaking at the conference, US Vice President JD Vance warned that supply chains had become “exceptionally concentrated,” leaving the US exposed to political leverage and deliberate market distortion stemming from China’s dominance of the sector.

China maintains a commanding position across the critical minerals value chain, particularly in processing and refining. It accounts for roughly 60% of global mine production and close to 90% of processing capacity. That dominance gives Beijing significant strategic leverage. Late last year, in response to US tariffs, China imposed strict export controls on critical minerals, triggering a confrontation of such consequence that it required direct intervention by Presidents Trump and Xi to stabilise the dispute.

China has been the single-most influential foreign actor in developing the DRC’s copper and cobalt sectors over the past two decades. Today it controls roughly 80% of Congolese mining output. The DRC holds more than 50% of global cobalt reserves and produces over 70% of world supply. Glencore is the only Western miner operating major cobalt mines in Congo. The DRC is also the second-largest copper producer globally.

Bloomberg also notes that the deal represents a striking turnaround in Glencore’s relationship with the US government. In May 2022, the Swiss company pleaded guilty to bribery charges linked to payments to Congolese officials and was placed under a US Justice Department monitoring regime. That monitoring programme was terminated just ten months ago, earlier than planned, removing a major obstacle to renewed US-backed engagement.

Potential transactions involving Mutanda and Kamoto have long been complicated by Dan Gertler, an Israeli billionaire under US sanctions. He is accused of paying bribes to Congolese officials while acting as an intermediary in arrangements that enabled Glencore to operate the mines. Gertler reportedly continues to receive royalties from both assets in non-US currencies. US officials are now reportedly working to ensure the proposed Orion-Glencore transaction can proceed without breaching American law.

The deal follows a US-brokered peace agreement between the DRC and Rwanda in 2025. The agreement included a “minerals-for-security” economic framework, in which it was agreed that the US would receive privileged access to the DRC’s mineral resources.

Another major US-backed deal late last year was the expansion of the Lobito Corridor. The US approved a $553 million DFC loan to refurbish Angola’s Benguela railway line, the largest single DFC loan ever granted in Africa. The route links Congo’s Copperbelt to the Angolan port of Lobito and stands in direct competition with China’s $1.4 billion Tanzania-Zambia rail investment.

Taken together, these developments point to a decisive shift in American strategy. Washington is no longer merely warning about its dependence on China for critical minerals but is deploying capital, diplomacy, and development finance to compete directly on the ground. For the DRC, it introduces a counterweight to two decades of Chinese dominance.