KoBold Metals Uses AI to Search for Lithium in DR Congo

KoBold Metals is using artificial intelligence, geological information and field sampling to search for lithium and other critical minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The company has established an exploration base in Manono, a remote town in southeastern DRC, where its teams are collecting soil samples and examining areas that could contain lithium-bearing pegmatite deposits.

AI-guided exploration

KoBold geologists are working with high-precision GPS equipment and tablets linked to an artificial intelligence system running on servers at the company’s base in California. The system draws on historical geological maps, old drilling records and satellite images to produce predictive models.

Teams have collected an average of about 2,000 soil samples each week since April. The analysis is intended to identify a geochemical signature associated with pegmatite, the type of mineral formation from which lithium is extracted.

“Once we’ve determined the presence of lithium at very specific points, that allows us to target the drilling,” said Kevin Tambwe, KoBold’s lab manager.

KoBold holds 14 exploration permits covering more than 3,000 square kilometres, obtained since 2025. The company remains at the exploration stage and has not yet entered production. It hopes to begin production in a few years and plans to invest more than $50 million in the DRC by early 2027.

Benjamin Katabuka, the company’s managing director in the DRC, said KoBold had achieved “very encouraging results”, but did not provide further details. The available information does not establish whether commercially viable lithium deposits will be found.

Competition for critical minerals

KoBold’s work comes as governments and companies seek new supplies of minerals used in modern energy and technology industries. The International Energy Agency expects global lithium demand to more than double by 2030.

The DRC is the world’s second-largest copper producer and leading cobalt producer. China controls between 70 and 80 percent of the country’s copper and cobalt market, according to the source report. KoBold’s arrival has been described as part of a wider US effort to secure strategic mineral supplies and reduce China’s dominance.

KoBold, founded in 2018 with backing from investors including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, is one of only two American companies reported to hold assets in the DRC. Virtus Minerals is the other company identified in the report.

Local concerns over mining benefits

Expectations surrounding new investment are mixed in Manono, where residents continue to face poverty and limited infrastructure. Official statistics cited in the report put poverty in the region at 88 percent.

Cyprien Kitanga, the territory administrator, said Manono lacks drinking water and electricity. He also expressed concern about the area’s history with mining, saying companies had previously taken ore while leaving behind holes that posed risks to local children.

Wilson Katende, a vicar general, said miners at existing operations often earn less than $200 per month. “Right now, you don’t feel like people here have been fairly paid,” he said, while adding that competition could improve working conditions.

Those concerns were highlighted by a protest at a mine operated by China’s Zijin, where miners burned tyres at the entrance over wages and long working days. Zijin said it had engaged with employee representatives and agreed measures to address their concerns, without details of those measures being provided.

Zijin shipped its first tons of concentrate in June from a large mine adjacent to KoBold’s permits. The Lukushi River has also been diverted to support mining operations in the area.