Eurasian Resources, Mercuria sign $100 million copper deal

Bloomberg News | October 30, 2025 | 2:19 pm Markets Africa Russia and Central Asia Copper

Eurasian Resources copper, cobalt facility in the DRC to undergo Responsible Minerals Assurance Process

Metalkol facility in Kolwezi, DRC. (Image by Eurasian Resources Group).

Mercuria Energy Trading SA will provide up to $100 million in prepayments to Eurasian Resources Group as part of a three-year supply agreement for copper from Democratic Republic of Congo.

The financing will help Luxembourg-registered ERG develop its copper projects in the central African nation, the company said in an emailed statement Thursday.

Mercuria is expanding aggressively into metals, with a keen focus on Central Africa’s copper-rich nations. The firm’s new metals division is up by around $300 million in trading profits so far this year, Bloomberg News reported earlier this month.

Mercuria’s new metals unit reaps $300 million so far this year

“The facility will strengthen ERG’s asset development in the Democratic Republic of the Congo — a region of growing strategic relevance to Mercuria,” Kostas Bintas, the Switzerland-based trader’s global head of metals and minerals, said in the statement.

Another Mercuria unit agreed this month to team up with Gecamines, Congo’s state miner, to trade its portion of output from copper and cobalt joint ventures. Congo is the world’s second biggest source of copper and biggest cobalt producer.

Mercuria also announced a metals trading partnership late last year with Zambia, Africa’s biggest copper producer after Congo.

“This marks an important step in deepening our collaboration with global partners as we work to realize the full potential of our core operations in the DRC,” Shukhrat Ibragimov, ERG’s chairman and chief executive, said in the statement.

ERG is 40% owned by the Kazakhstan government.

(By Michael J. Kavanagh)