DR Congo’s lead production increased by 7.9% on a year-to-year basis to stand at 597,249 tons during H1, 2018, the country’s central bank revealed on 30, August 2018. According to figures reported by Reuters, cobalt and gold production has also risen by 37.6% to 52,941 tons and 15.8% to 17,948 KG respectively during the period under review.  

The International Copper Study Group (ICSG) reveals in its recent paper that in the world, lead production has risen by 5.7% in the first five months of 2018 to stand at 8.336 million tons.

The organization explains that this increase in DR Congo’s production was due to a rise by 12.5% in the use of SX-EW (solvent extraction and electrowinning) in DR Congo, the largest producer in Africa ahead of Zambia. This African country is also the world’s largest cobalt producer.