Grace Ashiru
The Democratic Republic of Congo has entered into an agreement with a US investment firm to provide AI-powered geological analysis aimed at improving the mapping of the country’s mineral resources. The five-year deal, signed at the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town, will see Atlas Park review historical records on mineral deposits and conduct new geological surveys. The results will be shared with the DRC’s national geological service and will inform the company’s own investment choices. Neither Atlas Park nor authorities in Kinshasa revealed the financial terms of the agreement.
“Nowhere else in the world offers greater exploration potential than the DRC,” Atlas Park chief executive Kai Han said in comments to Semafor. “Our goal is to make money through exploration investments, and to do that well we need to build a stronger data environment.” The deal is the latest in a series of agreements between the DRC and US companies, as well as with Washington itself, as Kinshasa seeks to capitalize on its natural resources. Copper and cobalt, which the country holds in large quantities, are especially sought after because of their role in AI technologies and clean energy.
