Swiss-based commodity company Mercuria has delivered 12,000 tonnes of copper sourced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Project Vault, the critical mineral reserve of the United States of America (USA). This shipment is significant in that it is the first physical copper entry announced under the programme.[i] Congolese copper, which only a few months ago appeared in commercial contracts, is thus turning into a strategic guarantee that American industry will use in extraordinary times. The path followed by the copper clearly shows that mining trade is no longer limited to calculations of price and quantity.
Project Vault has been designed as a public-private partnership bringing together up to 10 billion dollars in public credit and approximately 2 billion dollars in private capital. The programme aims to create a stockpile of critical minerals covering approximately sixty days for American manufacturers.[ii] With this model, Washington is establishing a common reserve prepared in advance, instead of automotive, defence, energy and technology companies turning to the market in a scattered manner at times when they experience supply shortages. Without directly operating the mines, the state is positioning itself as a powerful buyer that determines the timing and direction of demand.
This approach also broadens the scope of the concept of strategic stockpiles. Reserve policy, which in the past was associated with oil, grain or military needs, now covers a broad industrial area ranging from electricity grids to data centres. An electric vehicle, an artificial intelligence facility or a modern weapons system each use different amounts of copper. Therefore, access to copper is turning into a security issue that determines not only production costs but also whether factories can operate. Project Vault constitutes the institutional response to this change.
As far as Congo is concerned, the noteworthy development is the commercial competence behind the shipment. The state-owned company Gécamines exercised its right to purchase 100,000 tonnes of copper from Tenke Fungurume’s 2026 production and directed this amount to the American market. This volume corresponds to its 20 per cent stake in the company.[iii] Since the 80 per cent stake in the site is held by China’s CMOC, Chinese capital, Congolese public partnership and American strategic demand coexist at the same production site. This structure gives rise to a more complex interdependence than sharp bloc divisions.
Gécamines’ direct marketing of the output corresponding to its own share, although it may seem minor, signals an important change in Congo’s mining policy. The state company is thereby moving away from the position of a passive shareholder that receives dividends from the partnership and closer to that of a commercial actor that selects buyers, plans deliveries and conducts price negotiations. Making room for American demand without excluding existing Chinese investments gives Kinshasa the opportunity to diversify its partners. If this opportunity is used well, external competition can be turned from a pressure that narrows the country’s choices into an instrument that generates bargaining power.
The change in the American market had in fact already begun before Project Vault. In July 2026, US copper imports from Congo reached a monthly record of 53,290 tonnes, and Congo’s share of total imports rose to 23.9 per cent. By contrast, the amount purchased in the whole of 2024 remained below 32,000 tonnes.[iv] Considerations of quality and price have been as influential as geopolitical concerns in this rapid increase. The fact that Congolese copper is offered at hundreds of dollars per tonne cheaper than products registered to certain American exchange standards is increasing the interest of industrial consumers.
This shift gives Congo a wider customer base, different price references and additional room for manoeuvre against fluctuations in the Chinese market. An increase in the number of buyers makes it easier for the seller to compare contract terms; long-term delivery agreements can also increase the predictability of public revenues. However, the security premium provided by the strategic stockpile accumulates on the balance sheet of the country that establishes the reserve. While Congo bears the production risk, the infrastructure burden and the environmental cost, the political value of copper in times of scarcity is held in Washington.
For this reason, the success of the 12,000-tonne delivery for Congo is measured beyond sales revenue. Although the country has increased its capacity to produce copper cathodes in recent years, there is a long way to go in more advanced products such as cables, motors, transformers and electrical equipment. If American demand turns into a regular purchase guarantee, conditions such as local processing, training of engineers and infrastructure financing can be added to contracts. Otherwise, while export routes diversify, the economy’s raw material-dependent structure will largely be preserved.
The impact of strategic reserves on the market is also being closely monitored. Large publicly backed purchases can raise prices during periods of tightening supply and increase costs for producers that remain outside the reserve. On the other hand, metal held in storage for a long time can push prices down when it is released onto the market at a moment of weakening demand. The protection of Congo in this order depends as much on the transparency of the pricing formula as on the delivery schedule. Non-transparent intermediary structures can reduce the state’s gains while leaving the opportunity offered by external demand to a narrow circle of companies.
The copper shipment also shows that the competition between the US and China over African minerals is not producing a straightforward alignment of sides. While Chinese companies maintain their strong positions in the production infrastructure in Congo, Washington is entering other links of the chain through storage, financing and purchase guarantees. Kinshasa’s gains will be shaped less by choosing one of the parties than by its ability to link both relationships to its own industrial objectives. Multi-directional partnership is only as valuable as the state’s capacity to prepare contracts, supervise them and channel revenues into production.
This process may also set an example for other mineral producers in Africa. Zambia in copper, Guinea in bauxite and iron ore, and Gabon in manganese are facing similar purchase offers. While strategic stockpile programmes provide regular customers and financing, if producer countries cannot develop common terms, they may compete with one another on the basis of lower taxes and looser obligations. Regional coordination is becoming increasingly important for turning external demand into local industrial investment and protecting the contractual power of resource countries.
The entry of Congolese copper into the American vault shows that, in the age of critical minerals, security begins where the mineral is extracted and is completed in the country where the stockpile is held. While Project Vault provides Washington with physical protection for days of crisis, it offers Kinshasa a new market and wider room for manoeuvre. Still, the lasting gain will be understood less by how many tonnes of copper reach the warehouse than by how much industry, technical know-how and public revenue this trade leaves in Congo. Otherwise, the key to the vault will change hands, while the economic position of the resource-owning country will not transform to the expected extent.
[i] “Mercuria Adds First Copper to US Project Vault Stockpile”, Financial Times, https://www.ft.com/content/37d24217-acd8-4f84-a298-4f1ccc359a27, (Accessed: 18.10.2026).
[ii] “Trump Launches $12 Billion Minerals Stockpile to Counter China”, Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-launches-12-billion-minerals-stockpile-counter-china-bloomberg-news-2026-02-02/, (Accessed: 18.10.2026).
[iii] “Gécamines Trading Exercises Right to Purchase 100,000 Tons of Copper Destined for the United States,” Gécamines, https://gecamines.com/gecamines-trading-exercises-right-to-purchase-100000-tons-of-copper-destined-for-the-united-states/, (Accessed: 18.10.2026); “The DRC – Copper and Cobalt,” CMOC Group, https://en.cmoc.com/html/Business/Congo-Cu-Co/, (Accessed: 18.10.2026).
[iv] “US Imports More Congo Copper as Consumer Acceptance Grows”, Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/us-imports-more-congo-copper-consumer-acceptance-grows-2026-09-07/, (Accessed: 18.10.2026).
