In a major advance for the U.S. push to secure critical minerals and compete with Chinese firms in Central Africa, U.S.-based Virtus Minerals has signed a megadeal for copper and cobalt deposits in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). After lengthy negotiations that reportedly included heavy behind-the-scenes pressure by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on DRC President Félix Tshisekedi’s government, Virtus has acquired Chemaf, a mining company that operates in southeastern DRC, along with all its assets.
The deal is the first concluded by a U.S. firm in the DRC since the two countries signed an agreement on critical minerals access in December 2025. Virtus has just eight employees and little track record in major mining ventures. However, the company now holds the rights to deposits that include the Mutoshi mine, which is capable of producing up to 5% of the world’s cobalt supply.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Virtus says it plans to sell the minerals it produces exclusively to American or “U.S.-aligned” buyers.
But the region where Virtus will operate has long suffered pollution and environmental damage related to mining. Among the unanswered questions surrounding the takeover is how Virtus plans to address such concerns and whether the U.S. firm will hold itself to a higher standard than its Chinese counterparts.
After Chemaf acquired the mine in 2015, Amnesty International said the company warned nearby residents they would have to move. When they refused, Congolese soldiers allegedly destroyed an entire town.
“The two primary mines are situated within urban areas, with detrimental consequences for both the local populations and the cities of Lubumbashi and Kolwezi,” Jean-Claude Mputu, spokesperson for a coalition of Congolese civil society groups, said in a text message to Mongabay. “Yet until now Chemaf has consistently evaded its responsibilities.”
The Virtus website says operations will include “clear standards for safety, labor, and environmental performance.” A request by Mongabay for details on those standards was not answered.
After more than a decade of dominance by Chinese firms in the production of African minerals, the deal has been hailed by U.S. policymakers as a turning point in American competitiveness.
However, Frederic Mousseau, policy director of the U.S.-based Oakland Institute, told Mongabay via email, “The deal made by Virtus, a newly created firm led by former US military and intelligence personnel, should raise serious concerns in a country where mining has long been a synonym of violence, exploitation, corruption, and devastating pollution.”
One of the primary financiers of the deal is the New York-based Orion Resource Partners, which recently formed a $1.8 billion three-way investment consortium between ADQ, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, and the U.S. government’s International Development Finance Corporation. In a Mongabay request for comment, Orion declined to say whether American public funds would be directed toward Virtus’ operations in the DRC.
Banner image: Bags of cobalt powder ready for export from Chemaf’s mines in the DRC. Image by Didier Makal/Mongabay.
