A new $660 million hydroelectric plant to power a mining operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is to be funded by China’s Sinohydro and China Railway Group, African media has reported.
The 240MW project in the Busanga region is to be used by Sicomines, a copper and cobalt mining joint venture between the Chinese firms and and Congolese mining company Gecamines. The mining operation is expected to need 170MW, with the remaining 70MW to be fed to the national grid.
Funding for the hydro project comes out of a previous $6 billion minerals-for-infrastructure deal signed in 2007, where Sinohydro and China Railway Group said they woudl build $3 billion worth of infrastructure in return for a 68% stake in the mine, Theafricareport.com has reported.
