From Zambia to the Democratic Republic of Congo, KoBold Metals is advocating for a reduction in the administrative delays that slow down the exploration and development of mining projects in Africa. For the American group, Western companies can move as quickly as their Chinese competitors without lowering their compliance standards.
"We reject the idea that you cannot move fast while doing things the right way. You can do both," stated Josh Goldman, president of the Californian company, in an interview granted to Reuters on 25 September.
For KoBold, the primary difficulties concern the permits necessary for exploration, the proliferation of administrative procedures, and the coordination between the various public agencies involved in the projects. Therefore, the company is not, according to the discourse reported by Reuters, requesting the removal of environmental standards or compliance requirements.
It believes instead that their implementation can be better organized to reduce delays.
For the American group, the challenge is to bring the pace of public procedures in line with that of private investments. KoBold seeks to demonstrate that a Western operator can also reduce the time required between exploration, confirmation of a discovery, and the development of a deposit, provided that administrations keep pace with the capital deployed.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, this issue arises as the company continues an exploration campaign focused notably on lithium and copper. KoBold is seeking a discovery of a size comparable to the Manono deposit, in an area located near the border with Zambia.
China retains the infrastructure advantage
Beyond the speed of administrative procedures, KoBold believes that competition is also played out on the ability to rapidly mobilize the infrastructure necessary for developing deposits. China possesses a structural advantage in this area.
Its mining groups can often combine project development with investments in roads, railways, ports, or processing units.
This capacity for integration makes it possible to reduce the number of steps between the discovery of a resource and its transport to markets. It thus constitutes an important factor of competitiveness for Chinese companies operating on the African continent.
The case of Manono provides an illustration of this. Reuters reported that Zijin Mining had begun exporting lithium from a block adjacent to the project in June 2026, after building the infrastructure necessary for its exploitation.
This example illustrates, according to KoBold's analysis, the importance of speed of execution when it comes to transforming a mining discovery into commercial activity.
It is in this context that the American company is asking African governments to create an administrative environment capable of keeping pace with private capital. In Namibia, where KoBold holds more than 7 000 km² of exploration permits after having invested approximately 2 million dollars since 2022, the group is seeking in particular to accelerate the procurement of the permits necessary for its activities.
"We wish to accelerate our investments in Namibia because we appreciate the geological potential, the operational environment, the regulatory framework, and the people. But we must be able to move faster," explained Josh Goldman to Reuters.
Claude Paul Tjeg
Published on 28/09/26 15:32
The Editorial Staff