China's biggest metals producer has grown aggressively in the past decade, becoming a major global copper supplier by building out big new projects in the DRC.
The FT reports that Washington wants to broaden the terms of the deal to include other assets, most notably a nuclear power plant that is currently under Russian control.
Created last month, the council's mandate is to boost not only US oil and gas production, but also the extraction and processing of lithium, copper and other critical minerals.