Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption DR Congo produces more than 60% of the world's cobalt

The Democratic Republic of Congo has moved to increase taxes on mining firms and increase government royalties from the industry despite fierce opposition from international mining companies.

President Joseph Kabila signed a new mining code into law on Friday.

The country is Africa's biggest producer of copper and cobalt, a vital component in mobile phone batteries.

Foreign mining firms strongly opposed the law, saying their operations in DR Congo would stop being profitable.

Several chief executives flew to the Congolese capital Kinshasa this week in the hopes of persuading Mr Kabila to change his mind.

They argued that the legislation would deter future investment and violate existing agreements, reported Reuters news agency.

The government however has agreed to consider their concerns on a case by case basis, and work with them in executing the new code.

DR Congo has talked for years about changing its 2002 mining code, which it believed put too many profits in the hands of foreign companies, says BBC World Service Africa editor Mary Harper.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption DR Congo's resources have been a catalyst for past conflict

Its mining industry - which also produces diamond, tantalum, tin and gold - is the country's largest source of export income.

The law, which was passed by parliament in January, will double government royalties on all minerals.

The impoverished yet mineral-rich nation provides more than 60% of the world's cobalt. Prices for it more than doubled last year thanks to an increased demand for electric cars, which require cobalt for batteries.

Royalties on cobalt could also more than quadruple if the government labels it a "strategic substance".</s>Congolese President Joseph Kabila has signed a mining law that is expected to increase the country’s royalties despite opposition from major mining companies.

Kabila announced the signing on Friday, two days after he met with mining company representatives for at least seven hours about the legislation that DRC’s parliament already had approved.

DRC remains deeply impoverished despite being one of the world’s most mineral-rich countries. The vast nation was plundered during decades of colonialism and dictatorship.

The revisions to DRC’s 2002 mining code have brought opposition because they would sharply increase the costs of doing business in the country. Kabila has said he will take the concerns of mining companies into consideration.

DRC is the world’s largest producer of cobalt, a mineral found in lithium-ion batteries.</s>KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - Congolese President Joseph Kabila has signed a mining law that is expected to increase the country's royalties despite opposition from major mining companies.

Kabila announced the signing on Friday, two days after he met with mining company representatives for at least seven hours about the legislation that Congo's parliament already had approved.

Congo remains deeply impoverished despite being one of the world's most mineral-rich countries. The vast nation was plundered during decades of colonialism and dictatorship.

The revisions to Congo's 2002 mining code have brought opposition because they would sharply increase the costs of doing business in the country. Kabila has said he will take the concerns of mining companies into consideration.

Congo is the world's largest producer of cobalt, a mineral found in lithium-ion batteries.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>DAKAR, March 9 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila signed into law on Friday a new mining code that raises royalties and taxes on operators, the presidency said in a statement.

International mining companies that operate in Congo, Africa’s top copper producer, have vigorously opposed the new law, although Kabila pledged this week to work with them while implementing it. (Reporting By Aaron Ross, editing by Larry King)</s>DAKAR (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila signed into law on Friday a new mining code that raises royalties and taxes on operators, the presidency said in a statement.

International mining companies that operate in Congo, Africa’s top copper producer, have vigorously opposed the new law, although Kabila pledged this week to work with them while implementing it.

The law, passed by parliament in late January, replaces an earlier code from 2002. It raises royalties on minerals across the board and removes a clause that protected miners from changes to the fiscal and customs regime for 10 years.

Executives from Glencore, Randgold, China Molybdenum and Ivanhoe failed to convince Kabila during a six-hour meeting on Wednesday to re-open negotiations over the code, which they say will deter investment and violate existing agreements.

The two sides agreed, however, to open negotiations next week over measures to implement the code, and Mines Minister Martin Kabwelulu said the companies’ concerns would be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Royalties on cobalt, a vital component in electric car batteries, could increase fivefold to 10 percent if the government designates the metal a “strategic substance”. The law also introduces a windfall profits tax.</s>In the world of today, almost all have a fair amount of understanding about what Bitcoin phenomenon is all about. However, ‘Bitcoin mining’ is still to be understoood fully. Bitcoin mining is not only a process that helps the crypto-assets function as required, but also a technique that helps in launching news Bitcoins to digital wallets all across the world. So, what’s Bitcoin mining all about? In simple terms, the process followed by which crypto-transactions are verified and also added to the public ledger called Blockchain, in turn helping release if Bitcoins is called Bitcoin mining. Bitcoin mining involves compiling latest held transactions into blocks and solving a computationally cumbersome puzzle. You don’t need anything but a good internet connection and a computer to carry on with Bitcoin mining.

The participants in Bitcoin mining are required to solve the puzzle in order to place the next block on the blockchain and thereafter claim rewards for the same. One can easily receive a newly released Bitcoin (block reward) or a transaction fees related with the compiled transactions. For every 4 years or 210,000 blocks this block reward is halved. In 2009, the block reward was at 50 which has now diminished to 12.5, according to Investopedia. The difficulty of mining or solving puzzles keeps adjusting with time and in general for every 2016 blocks or nearly two weeks. In case of increased computational power, mining becomes harder and vice versa.

Bitcoin was trading at $9,332.20 on the CoinDesk price index at the time of reporting. Cryptocurrencies mainly bitcoins are under pressure after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently released a statement hinting about regulation. SEC has said that all the cryptocurrency exchanges which offer virtual assets for trading to register with SEC. Post this announcement, a fear has gripped markets that the SEC may tighten the regulations on cryptocurrencies in the coming day. The prices of virtual currencies are dipping since then.</s>AngloGold Ashanti and partner Randgold Resources say talks between the mining industry and Congolese President Joseph Kabila have reached agreement to address companies’ concerns about new mining laws.

AngloGold and London-listed Randgold share the new Kibali mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Randgold CEO Mark Bristow was outspoken during the Mining Indaba in February about the new mining code Kabila has yet to sign into law.

Other companies affected by the changes in mining laws in the DRC include Glencore, whose hard-nosed CEO Ivan Glasenberg joined fellow South Africans and equally tough Bristow in the talks with Kabila and mines ministry officials on Wednesday in Kinshasa.</s>KINSHASA, March 7 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila will soon sign into law a new mining code, the government and the country’s mining companies said on Wednesday. The code has been vigorously opposed by the miners.

The announcement followed a nearly six-hour meeting between Kabila and mining executives in Kinshasa about the new code, which will raise taxes and remove a stability clause in the current law protecting miners from changes to the fiscal and customs regime for 10 years.

“The president of the republic assured the miners ... that their concerns will be taken into account through a constructive dialogue with the government after the promulgation of the new mining law,” a joint statement said.

Glencore, Randgold and China Molybdenum all operate mines in Congo, Africa’s top copper and cobalt producer, and have said the changes in the code adopted by parliament in January would scare off new investment and violate existing agreements. Ivanhoe is developing a mine and upgrading another that is not currently in production.

Mining executives declined to answer questions from reporters after the meeting, with Randgold Chief Executive Mark Bristow saying they had “work to do”.

Ivanhoe and China Moly declined to comment further when reached via email.

Mines Minster Martin Kabwelulu told reporters after the meeting that the companies’ concerns would be treated on a “case-by-case basis”.

“After the promulgation of the code, we are going to wait for the mining companies ... to send us their concerns,” Kabwelulu said. “We are going to re-examine those concerns, first with (government) experts ... and with the mining companies’ experts.”

Randgold, which operates the giant Kibali gold mine in northeastern Congo, said last month that it would challenge the new code through international arbitration if it was not referred back to the mines ministry for further consultation with industry.

The government has disputed the companies’ claims that the new code will make them unprofitable and said the revision is needed to boost meager public revenues in a country with an annual budget of only about $5 billion.

Under one provision in the proposed code, royalties on cobalt, a vital component in electric car batteries, could increase fivefold to 10 percent. The law will also introduce a windfall profits tax.

Congo is the world’s biggest source of cobalt. Its output jumped 15.5 percent last year to 73,940 tonnes. (Reporting by Amedee Mwarabu; Writing by Aaron Ross; Additional reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver, editing by Larry King and Grant McCool)</s>Comstock Mining Inc (NYSEAMERICAN:LODE) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,225,932 shares, an increase of 9.5% from the February 15th total of 2,033,094 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 471,974 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days.

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ILLEGAL ACTIVITY WARNING: This piece was posted by Chaffey Breeze and is owned by of Chaffey Breeze. If you are reading this piece on another website, it was copied illegally and reposted in violation of United States & international copyright and trademark legislation. The original version of this piece can be read at https://www.chaffeybreeze.com/2018/03/11/comstock-mining-inc-lode-short-interest-update-3.html.

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Receive News & Ratings for Comstock Mining Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Comstock Mining and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.</s>DR Congo President Joseph Kabila enacted a law to hike taxes on so-called strategic metals and ordered government consultations with foreign companies worried by the change, an official said Sunday.

"The law has been promulgated in the same form as was adopted by parliament," a presidential adviser who asked not to be named told AFP.

The new text replaces the Democratic Republic of Congo's 2002 mining code, which the government considered to favour foreign investors at the expense of the economy.

The new code allows a levy of up to 10 percent on key minerals, expected to include copper and cobalt.

There would also be a tax of 50 percent on windfall profits -- so-called super-profits that occur when prices go at least 25 percent above a given benchmark.

Cobalt is of particular concern to foreign companies that mine it for use in smartphones.

The government said in an earlier statement that the mining companies' "concerns will be taken into account through a constructive dialogue with the government after the new mining law is approved, with a view to finding a compromise".

The vast central African country is rich in minerals but has suffered violent instability over recent months.

Kabila has postponed elections and his opponents are demanding he step out of the running ahead of a vote scheduled for December.
Congolese President Joseph Kabila signs a law that increases taxes on mining and government royalties on international mining companies working in DR Congo, including on the mining of cobalt, despite the opposition from foreign companies.