[SMM translator] the National Mining Company of the Congo has signed an agreement on production sharing with Chinese companies

SMM12, April 4: Congo's Gecamines said on Monday that it had signed a production sharing agreement with Hong Kong's Excellen Mining for copper and cobalt deposits, which would pay a signing bonus of US $40 million. Congo's state-run mining company said Gecamines's first such production-sharing agreement would guarantee its "significant" share of processing facilities in the southeastern city of Koluwezi. Albert Yuma, chairman of Gecamines, added that a $40 million signing bonus for Excellen in Hong Kong would be paid by the end of the year.

Since its heyday in the 1980s, Gecamines has produced nearly 500000 tons of copper a year and its debt has fallen sharply.

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