The DRC, home to the world's largest cobalt resource and second globally in terms of copper deposits, has just emerged from a fiercely contested and disputed presidential election that saw Kabila re-elected, but leaving his camp without a sufficient majority in parliament.

Bloomberg reports Augustin Katumba Mwanke, the former governor of copper-rich Katanga province, was seen by many analysts and diplomats as the power behind the throne:

“The death of Augustin Katumba Mwanke will have serious repercussions for the Kabila regime and in particular for the mining sector,” Wilson, senior consultant at africapractice, said by e-mail today.

“His removal from the political scene will encourage a power struggle among politicians keen to fill the void.”

Reuters reports Katumba was also a central figure during negotiations for the $6 billion minerals-for-infrastructure deal with China:

"Every major player in the mining sector has negotiated with him or through him, and his death will reshape power dynamics in the sector," Africa Practice's Wilson said.

"It creates uncertainty for projects reliant on his continued political support, and more broadly across the sector."

The FT reports Mwanke is closely associated with the culture of corruption in the country that seems to be in a perpetual state of war:

Mr Mwanke was named in a 2002 report by a UN panel of experts on Congo as an illegal minerals profiteer and recommended for sanctions that included a travel ban and assets freeze. While he was subsequently removed him from all official functions, he maintained his grip on Congo’s vast resource investments and his political influence.

Many companies doing business in the DRC have burned their fingers.

At the start of the year following a dispute with the DRC government over expropriation of one of its key assets, First Quantum Minerals sold out completely from the country.

The Vancouver-based copper miner sold its Kolwezi tailings project along with the Frontier and Lonshi mines and related exploration interests for $1.25 billion, about half the value some analysts put on the projects before the DRC government stepped in.

The deal is in the final stages of completion and it is uncertain if it would be affected by the death of Katumba. Canadian Business describes how First Quantum was fleeced after being investigated for “suspected widescale misconduct” by the DRC government:

Its courts, which are not independent, slapped a stinging US$12-billion judgment on the company.

The government transferred the properties for nominal sums to close associates of DRC president Joseph Kabila, who promptly flipped them for significant profits; Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC), a large London-based company dominated by Kazakh owners, paid just US$175 million for the Kolwezi project, which cost First Quantum nearly $800 million to purchase and construct.

In the US financial reforms signed into law in July last year was a provision on conflict minerals, particularly from the DRC. The LA Times opines:

In an effort to choke off funding for the armed thugs and rebel militias that have killed more than 5 million people and turned Congo into the rape capital of the world, the new law will require thousands of U.S. companies to disclose whether their products contain minerals from rebel-controlled mines.

Tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold are essential to the manufacture of cellphones, laptop computers, digital cameras and other products.

It is only in recent years, thanks to public-awareness campaigns by groups such as the Enough Project, that American consumers have begun to understand that the gadgets adding convenience to their lives are often the byproducts of forced labor, sexual violence and mass murder.

MINING.com in January wrote that as attractive deposits become harder and harder to find in traditional markets miners are pushing the limits of the political risk they are willing to take on. Read more on how gold diggers are exploring the final frontiers.

Image of simulated plane crash by Tomasz Szymanski / Shutterstock.com

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA–(Marketwire – Oct. 24, 2011) - Gossan Resources Limited (TSX VENTURE:GSS)(FRANKFURT/FREIVERKEHR & XETRA:WKN 904435) has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with East Mining Company SA ("EMC") of Athens, Greece, to investigate and examine the possibilities of acquiring mineral projects within Europe, on a non-exclusive basis, and initially to assess three potential projects in Greece. Additional projects may be pursued.

Under the terms of the LOI, Gossan will invest Euro 300,000, currently about CDN $420,000, and provide certain expertise for a 40% equity interest in EMC, a private company in registration, subject to due diligence and receipt by EMC of one or more mineral resource licenses by no later than March 31, 2012, or such other agreeable date, and the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Douglas Reeson, CEO of Gossan, commented, "An investment in East Mining Company provides Gossan with the opportunity to participate in a material re-valuation of mineral assets and potentially support Gossan in broadening its magnesium strategy into Europe."

Gossan is also undertaking a non-brokered private placement of up to $860,000 of units (the "Units"), subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Each Unit consists of one common share and one common share purchase warrant at a price of $0.16 per Unit. Each warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one additional common share of Gossan at an exercise price of $0.24 per share during the period ending November 29, 2013.

All securities issued in the course of the Offering will be subject to a regulatory hold period of four months and one day, and a voluntary hold period for a further 8 months or one year in total. Insiders of the Company may subscribe for in excess of 25% of the aggregate proceeds of the contemplated private placement. The principals of EMC may also subscribe to the contemplated private placement. No fees are anticipated to be paid in regard to the placement of the issue. Proceeds of the Units may be used to complete the proposed investment in East Mining Company and will be used for general working capital purposes. The private placement may be closed in two or more tranches.

On September 23, 2011, Gossan received an offer for the sale of its equity interest in The Claims Network Inc. (TCN), a service provider to the property and casualty insurance industry of claims-related services, for a net sale price of $1.4 million. TCN has declared a dividend, in accord with the terms of the agreement, and Gossan has received a payment of $115,030. The transaction is subject to a first right of refusal by existing TCN shareholders, the execution of a definitive agreement with the offeror and the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, if necessary. The transaction is expected to close in early December 2011 however no assurance can be provided that the transaction will close (see NR-11-04 dated September 23, 2011).

Gossan Resources Limited is engaged in mineral exploration and development in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario. It has a well-diversified portfolio of properties hosting gold, platinum group and base metals, as well as the specialty and minor metals, vanadium, titanium, tantalum, lithium, and chromium. The Company also has a large deposit of magnesium-rich dolomite, the world-wide rights to the Zuliani magnesium production process, and a silica frac sand deposit. Gossan trades on the TSX Venture Exchange and has 29,277,900 common shares outstanding.

For further information, please bookmark www.gossan.ca.

The specialty metal miner with operations in Mozambique is also extending an offer to shareholders to subscribe for a total of 17,500,000 new ordinary shares to raise up to a further US$7.2 million. In London stock in Noventa duly plunged 24% to 27.75 pence in line with the placing price of 25 pence.

Highlights

• Placing to raise approximately US$30,360,000 (£18,400,000) (before expenses).
• Subscription with Clawback to raise approximately US$7,218,750 (£4,375,000) (before expenses).
• Open Offer intended to be launched to give Shareholders the opportunity to participate in the fundraising.
• Net funds to be raised of approximately US$34,875,000 (approximately £21,136,364) should allow the Company to complete the construction and commissioning of the new plant at the Marropino mine by the end of 2011.
• Proposal for Preference Shareholders to have their shares redeemed earlier than previously agreed and to receive new Ordinary Shares in consideration for the redemption.

Pure tantalum is characterised by its high melting point, its exceptional resistance to chemical attack, its capacity to store and release electrical charge and its corrosion resistance. These unique chemical properties have led to its widespread use in the electronics industry, mainly as powder and wire for capacitors in telecommunications devices and implantable medical devices. Tantalum also goes into the manufacture of super alloys, imparting strength and high-temperature resistance against cracking, for use in aerospace and energy generation.

For further details on the offer click here.

A map showing the location of the holes drilled on the Rose Tantalum-Lithium project can be found in the Projects section of Critical Elements' website, at http://www.cecorp.ca/en/projects/rose-tantalum-lithium.html.

For the full press release click here

Critical Elements is actively developing its 100%-owned Rose lithium-tantalum flagship project located in Quebec. The project hosts a current indicated resource of 11.4 million tonnes of 1.34% Li₂O and 165 ppm Ta₂O₅ and inferred resource of 2.1 million tonnes of 1.27% Li₂O and 138 ppm Ta₂O₅.

Critical Elements has commissioned a prefeasibility study for the project from Genivar, one of the largest independent engineering firms in Canada. Genivar is also doing an environmental study, and Acme Metallurgical Ltd. of Vancouver is carrying out project metallurgy.

Critical Elements' portfolio also includes rare-earth and tantalum-niobium projects in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia and in Quebec, as well as a 50% interest in the Croinor project, which is located in Quebec and contains a measured and indicated resource of 814,228 tonnes at 9.11 g/t Au, for 238,414 ounces of gold at a 5 g/t cut-off.

Highlights:

• Hole CO-10-008 assayed 299.07 ppm Ta₂O₅ over 6.92 meters, which includes 399.82 ppm Ta₂O₅ over 2.92 meters.
• Hole CO-10-007 assayed 197.29 ppm Ta₂O₅ and 1.08 % Li₂O over 6.1 meters, which includes 240.18.29 ppm Ta₂O₅ and 1.49 % Li₂O over 3.05 meters.
• Hole CO-10-010 assayed 237.68 ppm Ta₂O₅ over 3.65 meters.
• Zone of strong tantalum enrichment over a 670 meter strike length.

Click here for more details

The deliveries under these agreements will commence in stages, beginning in the second quarter of 2011, from AMG's Brazilian operations. AMG's MIBRA mine in Brazil is one of the world's largest and most cost efficient tantalum mines and has 30 years of indicated and estimated tantalum resources. AMG is also evaluating steps to improve the production capability of the MIBRA mine through additional exploration and debottlenecking activities. AMG believes that its MIBRA mine is presently the world's largest producer of "conflict free" tantalum.

In July 2010 The United States enacted the "Conflict Minerals Law", which requires U.S. listed companies to report and make public the use of so- called "conflict minerals" from the Democratic Republic of the Congo or adjoining countries in their products. In a June 2010 report, The Raw Materials Supply Group chaired by the European Commission declared that tantalum is a "critical raw material", due to economic importance, potential supply risks and lack of substitutes.

Tantalum is primarily used in capacitors for electronic equipment due to its high capacitance that can be achieved in a small volume, thus helping enable miniaturization of electronics.

About AMG

AMG creates and applies innovative metallurgical solutions to the global trend of sustainable development of natural resources and CO(2) reduction. AMG produces highly engineered specialty metal products and advanced vacuum furnace systems for the Energy, Aerospace, Infrastructure and Specialty Metals and Chemicals end markets. AMG consists of two operating divisions, Advanced Materials and Engineering Systems, and owns interests in publicly-listed companies Graphit Kropfmühl AG (Deutsche Börse: GKR.DE) and Timminco Limited (TSX: "TIM").

The Advanced Materials Division develops and produces specialty metals, alloys and high performance materials. AMG is a significant producer of specialty metals, such as ferrovanadium, ferronickel-molybdenum, aluminum master alloys and additives, chromium metal and ferrotitanium, for Energy, Aerospace, Infrastructure and Specialty Metal and Chemicals applications. Other key products include specialty alloys for titanium and superalloys, coating materials, tantalum and niobium oxides, vanadium chemicals and antimony trioxide.

The Engineering Systems Division designs, engineers and produces advanced vacuum furnace systems and operates vacuum heat treatment facilities, primarily for the Aerospace and Energy (including solar and nuclear) industries. Furnace systems produced by AMG include vacuum remelting, solar silicon melting and crystallization, vacuum induction melting, vacuum heat treatment and high pressure gas quenching, turbine blade coating and sintering. AMG also provides vacuum case-hardening heat treatment services on a tolling basis.

Graphit Kropfmühl AG is a majority controlled, publicly listed subsidiary of AMG. Based on its secure raw material sources in Africa, China and Europe, Graphit Kropfmühl is a specialist in the production of silicon metal and the extraction, processing and refining of natural crystalline graphite for a wide range of energy saving industrial applications.

Timminco Limited is a publicly listed affiliate of AMG. Timminco produces silicon metal for the chemical, aluminum, electronic and solar industries. Timminco also produces solar grade silicon, using its proprietary technology for purifying silicon metal, for the solar energy industry.

With over 2,300 employees, AMG operates globally with production facilities in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Czech Republic, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Sri Lanka and also has sales and customer service offices in Belgium, Russia, China and Japan (www.amg-nv.com).

Disclaimer

Certain statements in this press release are not historical facts and are "forward looking." Forward looking statements include statements concerning AMG's plans, expectations, projections, objectives, targets, goals, strategies, future events, future revenues or performance, capital expenditures, financing needs, plans and intentions relating to acquisitions, AMG's competitive strengths and weaknesses, plans or goals relating to forecasted production, reserves, financial position and future operations and development, AMG's business strategy and the trends AMG anticipates in the industries and the political and legal environment in which it operates and other information that is not historical information. When used in this press release, the words "expects," "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "may," "will," "should," and similar expressions, and the negatives thereof, are intended to identify forward looking statements. By their very nature, forward looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward looking statements will not be achieved. These forward looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. AMG expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in AMG's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any forward looking statement is based.

AMG enters into tantalum supply agreements
This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V. via Thomson Reuters ONE

Now, the big issue for cobalt these days is that much of it – almost 45% of the world’s supply – is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country enscounced in a cival war, one where both sides are using metals such as tantalum and cobalt to fund their armies. Global backlash has been mounting, although it’s no secret that China has no qualms about traipsing through the country to bolster its own inventories with cheaply priced metals.

To some degree, this development has been offset by last year’s decision to include cobalt on the London Metals Exchange, which brings with it a certain amount of transparency and regulation.
This is further underpinned by the U.S. government’s recent decision to derail the DRC cobalt market by advocating homegrown cobalt production – a move that goes hand-in-hand with its clean energy initiatives.
Not surprisingly, some U.S. companies are trying to take advantage of the situation. Formation Metals is pushing forward with a project in Idaho, one that could go operational within two years. Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Minerals has its Eagle project in Michigan, which will be churning out cobalt as a byproduct. And Polymet has an open pit project in Minnesota, according to cobaltinvestingnews.com.

While cobalt prices were more or less stable during 2010, generally trading between $18 and $21 a pound over the 12-month period, Roskill Consulting sees the exponential growth in batteries for hybrid vehicles stirring up the market. The consultancy says the trend for cobalt consumption remains positive with batteries set to overtake superalloys as the largest market for cobalt by 2011. That expectation is good news for the demand side of the equation. And with more emphasis being placed on the supply side, companies producing cobalt as a byproduct should start to pay more attention to the metal’s worth in the market.

Conversely, zinc is currently sitting on a surplus, has been for most of the past year or so. That isn’t likely to change anytime soon, although investors should probably look toward 2012 when a number of major zinc mines start to wind down. That's when stockpiles will start disappearing, placing upward pressure on pricing.

That’s also when the likes of Canada Zinc Metals, Woulfe Mining and Merrex should start to gain some real investment traction within the commodity-based investment community.