Platmin Congo sale to Zijin may by illegal: Gecamines

KISANGANI (Reuters) - Congo's state-run mining firm Gecamines said on Tuesday an apparent agreement by Platmin Congo to sell its majority stake in a copper and cobalt concession to Chinese miner Zijin may be illegal.

Details of the $284 million deal, dated May 7, were posted on Zijin's website (here), though Gecamines said its partner Platmin Congo had not yet informed it of the agreement.

"We are bound by statutes that must be respected," Gecamines's managing director Callixte Mukasa told Reuters by telephone.

Asked if the joint venture agreement between Platmin Congo and Gecamines would be violated by the deal, he said: "We are going to see about that. I am with my team studying the document."

A Platmin Congo official was unavailable for comment.

According to Zijin's internet notice, Zijin and the Chinese government body China-Africa Development Fund agreed on a "proposed acquisition of 2,610,000 issued shares of Platmin Congo, representing all the issued shares of Platmin Congo".

Platmin Congo is a British Virgin Islands-based company, and unrelated to South African miner Platmin.

The company has 68 percent stake in the Kolwesi project, according to the Zijin statement, with the rest of the interest belonging to Gecamines.

Zijin said the project "is expected to process 4.5 million tonnes of ore per year to produce on average approximately 80,000 tonnes of copper and 10,000 tonnes of cobalt per year over a 20-year mine life".

According to the agreement, Zijin would hold 60 percent of the foreign stake in the project and CAD Fund 40 percent.