Tremalt
| Industry | Mining |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Tremalt Limited was a mining company incorporated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It was the vehicle for a highly criticized deal in 2001 in which it bought copper assets at far below their estimated value in return for a private agreement to pay a share of profits to the DRC and Zimbabwe governments. Allegedly some of the payments were made in the form of military equipment. The company made few investments in its assets, several of which the DRC government took back. In 2006 it was sold for about $60m.
In January 2001 the Kababancola Mining Company (KMC) was established as a copper and cobalt mining partnership for a 25-year term. Tremalt, controlled by John Bredenkamp, held 80% of KMC while Gecamines held 20% A network of private holding companies and trusts registered in the Isle of Man and the British Virgin Islands concealed the true owners of Tremalt. KMC gained the rights to mines, facilities and concentrators at Kambove and Kakanda. KMC made relatively low investment in these properties, continuing to operate the already-functioning Kamoya Mine but not opening the others. In March 2002 the DRC authorities took back control of the Kambove concentrator from Tremalt following a complaint by the manager of KMC against Gecamines at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. In its 2003-year end report KMC claimed a cumulative loss of over USD$11 million in the first three years.
In October 2002 the United Nations published the Final report of the Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The report named Brigadier General Sibusiso Busi Moyo and Air Commodore Mike Tichafa Karakadzai as key players in arranging the KMC deal with Tremalt. According to the report, Tremalt had paid $400,000 for the rights to exploit six Gecamines concessions that held a total of 2.7 million tons of copper and 325,000 tons of cobalt. These concessions had an estimated value of over $1 billion. In a private agreement, net profits would be divided 32% to Tremalt, 34% to the DRC government and 34% to the Zimbabwe government. Tremalt undertook to supply military vehicles and cash in lieu of the profit share payments.
The UK-based NGO Rights and Accountability in Development brought a case against Tremalt alleging illegal resource exploitation. However, the UK National Contact Point for the OECD blocked the case, saying it had been resolved by the United Nations panel. In June 2004 RAID withdrew the case.
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