Exclusive-US firm in key Congo minerals deal overstated its mining experience, documents and sources show

DAKAR, April 21 (Reuters) - A U.S. firm central to the Trump administration's push to secure critical minerals from Congo overstated its mining experience, Reuters has found.

Virtus, which bought Chemaf's mines in March for $30 million from the miner's shareholders, stated on its website that it had a track record in Congo due to its operating of a copper and cobalt processing plant.

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However, Reuters found Virtus didn't acquire the plant and that the plant has been idle since 2012, according to company documents, court records related to the disputed sale of the plant and five sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

The Chemaf deal represents the first physical investment from the U.S.-DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) strategic minerals partnership signed last year.

Washington agreed to help Congo attract U.S. investment in its mining sector in exchange for preferential access to critical minerals, in a bid to reduce China's longstanding dominance of Congo's mining industry.

A senior Congolese official familiar with the approval process said the security experience of senior Virtus executives was a factor in Kinshasa's decision, as Washington has been mediating peace efforts between Congo and neighbouring Rwanda.

Virtus declined to provide an on-the-record comment about the extent of its experience in the mining sector for this story.

The DRC's mines ministry and state miner Gécamines - which holds the lease to Chemaf's mines - did not respond to questions about Virtus' track record in Congo and how the firm presented its credentials.

'FLAGSHIP U.S. INVESTMENT'

The U.S. State Department said it "fully supports" Virtus Minerals' efforts to acquire and develop the assets.

"This acquisition will serve as an initial flagship U.S. investment in the DRC, to showcase that the U.S. private sector interest is real and will catalyze further investment," a spokesperson said.

The spokesperson did not respond to questions about whether the security experience of Virtus executives was a factor in Congo's decision and whether the deal comes with U.S. security guarantees.

One expert said that Virtus' track record in mining raises questions about the transparency of the U.S.-DRC partnership and whether due diligence was conducted.

"It is essential that the DRC government satisfies itself that Virtus has the necessary technical, financial and operational capacity," said Jean-Pierre Okenda, executive director of Sentinel of Natural Resources, an NGO promoting good governance and transparency in the mining sector.

Congo produces more than 70% of the world's cobalt, a key component in batteries for electric vehicles, and holds vast reserves of copper and lithium.

QUESTIONS OVER CONGO OPERATIONS

On Virtus Minerals' website in April 2025, the biography of chief executive Phil Braun stated that he "has established and operates the only American-owned copper and cobalt mining and processing company in the DRC through the subsidiary ROK Metals."

However, Reuters found that ROK Metals, Virtus' only identifiable footprint in Congo, did not purchase the long-idle copper-cobalt processing plant it sought to buy in Likasi, southeastern Haut-Katanga province.

Virtus is led by Braun, a U.S. Army Green Beret veteran, and Andrew Powch, a former U.S. Navy officer. Braun did not respond to a request for comment and Powch declined to provide on-record comment on the findings of this article.

ATTEMPTS TO SELL PLANT FAILED

Virtus' founders previously operated in Congo through an entity called Virtus Capital and Operations (VCO).

Until mid-March, VCO's website listed only one example of its activities: Congolese firm ROK Metals. The reference to ROK Metals was removed from the site in mid-March, days after Reuters contacted Virtus seeking comment about the company.

ROK Metals attempted to acquire the Likasi copper-cobalt processing plant that had been idle since 2012 after its owner ran into debt.

A May 2024 court order from the Likasi tribunal, the civil court that supervised the plant sale, shows the facility had still not been sold by then, with repeated attempts postponed or annulled after bidders failed to pay the full required sum.

A senior judicial source told Reuters that the plant remains under the ownership of its original owner, CAM Resources, to this day and has never been restarted.

Reuters spoke to a lawyer who previously represented CAM Resources, who said he was no longer in contact with the company and believed its principals had left the country.

State-owned lender Sofide, the sole privileged creditor of CAM Resources seeking repayment through a potential sale of the plant, told Reuters the facility has not been sold and remains inactive.

GRANT SUSPENDED

Even as ownership of the Likasi plant remained unresolved and the facility inactive, Virtus and ROK Metals continued to present the site as an operational base.

ROK Metals' website still describes the company as "actively developing a copper/cobalt leaching beneficiation plant in Likasi, which is set to yield high-grade copper cathode production in the latter half of 2023."

In June 2024, the U.S. foreign aid agency USAID announced it had awarded ROK Metals a $2 million grant to increase output. A USAID press release described ROK Metals as "a Congolese copper cathode processing plant in Likasi that has U.S. private sector investment."

A document reviewed by Reuters shows the grant was suspended in August 2024. While the document did not specify the reason for the suspension, it stated that reinstatement would require ROK Metals to provide proof of acquisition of the Likasi plant.

A source with direct knowledge of the matter said the grant was suspended after USAID learned that ROK Metals did not own the plant, contrary to earlier representations made by its principals to the programme.

The U.S. State Department, which handles media inquiries for the now-defunct USAID, did not respond to requests for comment on the agency's dealings with ROK Metals.

Five months after the suspension, Braun was still updating USAID officials on efforts to complete the plant purchase, correspondence shows.

The source said no USAID funds were ever disbursed, as ROK Metals had not acquired the plant by the time USAID was dismantled in July 2025.