Mining firm signs Congo Uranium contract

Britain’s Brinkley Mining signed a contract for uranium exploitation in Congo, promising a £1.5m (€2.2m) start-up investment into a partnership with the government.

The Central African country’s uranium mines, which produced material for the nuclear bombs the US dropped on Japan in the Second World War, fell into disrepair over Congo’s decades of war and misrule.

The mines have been closed officially since 2000, though illegal mining has continued. Minimal oversight of the reserves fuelled recent allegations that uranium from Congo was being smuggled to Iran. The government has denied the charges.

Brinkley signed a memorandum of understanding with Congo’s government in November 2006, but negotiations were derailed in March this year when the government official who set up the deal was imprisoned on charges of illegally selling uranium.

The new deal improved on the previous set-up, said Francois Lubala Toto, the commissioner in charge of the partnership.

He said Congo’s General Commission for Atomic Energy would have a 25% stake in the venture, with Brinkley holding a 75% stake. A previous proposal had given just 20% to the Congolese government.

Brinkley Mining chairman Gerard Holden said the company hoped to start mining uranium within two years.

He said the company’s initial investment would be £1.5m (€2.2m), with £5m (€7.4m) more in the first year of exploration.

“Now is the moment to begin the work and use these mineral resources so that everyone can benefit from the uranium in this country,” Holden said.

The deal must still be approved by Congo’s president.

The contract was signed on the day that religious leaders gathered in Congo’s capital to denounce private companies for not doing enough to help the local population.

“The wealth of our country needs to benefit our people before all else,” said Laurent Monsengwo, president of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo.