Mercuria-Gecamines JV delivers 12,000 mt of DRC copper to Project Vault

Copper from the Democratic Republic of Congo has gone into the Project Vault stockpile this week, Kostas Bintas, global head of metals and minerals at Swiss commodity and energy trader Mercuria Energy, said at the FT Metals & Mining Summit, taking place in London over Oct. 14-16.

The shipment of 12,000 metric tons is trial one, but the DRC has committed to ship a minimum of 100,000 mt of copper to the US through a joint venture between its state-owned miner, Gecamines, and Mercuria, according to Bintas.

"This copper finds its way not only to the US, but to the strategic reserve initiative of the US," he said, meaning Project Vault, a $12 billion public-private partnership that the Trump administration launched in February to build emergency stockpiles of 60 critical minerals for civilian industries.

Mercuria committed $500 million to Project Vault in September, according to its website, saying it will help ensure that critical minerals remain available to US manufacturers during periods of supply disruption, market volatility and shortages.

"Everybody knows that China is our largest partner right now, but we have to make choices sometimes. And for the time being, as far as copper is concerned, the commercial agreement is with the United States. What we're looking for is to bring in competition in the country," Gecamines CEO Baraka Kabemba said on the deal at the FT summit.

Mercuria and Gecamines formed a metals trading joint venture in December 2025 to commercialize the DRC's minerals. It is not intended to control 100% of the company's copper, but the partnership and supplies to the US are a motivation for Gecamines to rebuild its production capacity, make acquisitions and invest in exploration, Kabemba said at the FT Summit.

"The DRC is the second-largest producer of copper today and could become the largest by 2030, with production of 6 million tons," he said.

"I guess [the US is] buying copper cathode, though it may not be LME deliverable quality," John Meyer, analyst with UK-based broker SP Angel, told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy

Mercuria's Bintas said 80% of the world's copper stocks are now held in the US, drawn there by the prospect of the US imposing an import tariff on refined copper from 2027. The expectation of tariffs has kept the market in suspense since mid-2025, pushing copper prices from $9,000-$10,000/mt over January-October 2025 to $13,000-$15,000/mt a year later.

Meyer expected that the US will not impose tariffs on copper.