SMM11, March 30: the Congolese government once again criticized the decision of a subsidiary of Glencore (Glencore Plc) to suspend cobalt exports.

On Wednesday, Martin Caberulu, the country's mining minister, expressed his views on the issue at an unrelated news conference in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's capital, Kinshasa.

He said Katanga's decision was made "unilaterally". "how did they find traces of uranium?" Asked Caberululu. He said that there are a number of national controls between Camofuto and the Congo-Zambia border. Curiously, KCC shipped the minerals to South Africa, where they were examined and found to be incompatible with the concentration of uranium.

Caberu said he met with KCC executives three days ago, but did not get an answer to the question.

A Glencore spokesman declined to comment.

The minister also said that Katanga had not informed the Gecamines or the government of his plan to establish an ion exchange system in Kamoto to remove uranium.

Additional investigations are currently under way in Katanga to determine the source of uranium and to explore options to mitigate the impact of the suspension of sales.

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