KoBold Metals, a U.S.-based mining exploration company, has announced a deal to buy Australian AVZ Minerals Ltd.’s stake in a contested lithium project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Extensive deposits of key minerals mean the DRC is likely a key player in the transition to green energy. Roughly three years ago, a lithium deposit was confirmed at Manono, in the southeast of the country, possibly one of the largest in the world.

However, despite growing demand for lithium — crucial for making batteries and electric vehicles — mining in Manono has been delayed by controversy surrounding which company will develop the mine.

In 2024, Mongabay reported that the Congolese government was potentially abandoning its partnership with AVZ, granting exploration rights to Manono Lithium SAS, a joint venture between Chinese mining giant Zijin and the Congolese state-owned company, Cominière.

The government had accused AVZ of concealing data about mineral exploration, charges AVZ denied. And Zijin reportedly committed $70 million in aid to the region, but $30 million apparently disappeared.

“There has been a huge number of corruption red flags,” a consultant who works in the area and asked not to be named, told Mongabay in an email.

The announcement that an American company acquired a significant stake in the Manono project comes on the heels of a U.S.- brokered declaration of principles for peace in eastern DRC in April. It will establish a “fundamental understanding of regional governance, security, economic frameworks … to end the fighting and allow the region to reach its full potential,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

Long-standing conflict recently flared up with the resurgence of the Rwanda-backed armed group M23. Control of mineral mines in the east has fueled conflict between the DRC and neighboring Rwanda and ongoing domestic conflict between armed groups and militias.

In a statement on its website, KoBold said the agreement with AVZ  “will enable KoBold to rapidly deploy more than US$1B to bring the Manono lithium to Western markets.” The statement pledges to develop local talent and “create thousands of high paying Congolese jobs for decades.”

KoBold, backed by investment from billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, uses artificial intelligence to explore for transition minerals. Last year the company found one of the world’s biggest high-grade copper deposits in Zambia, according to KoBold president Josh Goldman.

The promise of jobs and development in exchange for resources has a history of falling short of expectations in much of the developing world. The so-called “resource curse” has often meant that local people bear the brunt of environmental degradation while promised development fails to appear.

As Mongabay has reported from Brazil, Bolivia, Chile,Argentina and  Zimbabwe lithium mining has a history of human health concerns and compromising water supplies.

An environmental impact assessment for the Manono mine was expected in May 2024 but it has not yet been made public.

Banner image: of Manono concession area. Image courtesy of AVZ (Fair Use).