CMOC Rejects Uranium Compliance Allegations At Tenke Fungurume

Kinshasa, August 1, 2026 - Chinese mining group CMOC rejected allegations that cobalt produced at the Tenke Fungurume mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo exceeded legal uranium thresholds between 2016 and 2020.

CMOC said all cobalt hydroxide currently produced by its Tenke Fungurume Mining subsidiary complies with local regulatory requirements and with the procurement standards of international customers. The company said no product sold by TFM had exceeded applicable uranium limits and that it had not faced customs detention, customer rejection or claims linked to uranium content.

The group said it operates quality control and radiological testing across the production chain, with traceable records. It also argued that tests on wet cobalt during production should not be treated as equivalent to the characteristics of the dried final product delivered to clients.

CMOC said neither the parent company nor its subsidiaries extract or separate uranium in the DRC or China. It also disputed the use of 75 parts per million as a universal industry threshold, saying compliance depends on customs rules and customer-specific standards.

The dispute matters for investors because Tenke Fungurume is one of the DRC's flagship copper-cobalt assets, and any questions over product quality, customs acceptance or buyer standards can affect supply-chain due diligence in the battery metals sector.