Producer
CMOC Group (China Molybdenum)
CMOC Group Limited (China Molybdenum Co., Ltd.; Luoyang, Henan, China; SEHK: 3993, SSE: 603993; ~$12B revenue) is China's most aggressive international copper and cobalt miner, having transformed from a domestic molybdenum producer into a global critical minerals company through acquisitions. CMOC acquired Freeport-McMoRan's Tenke Fungurume mine in the DRC (copper and cobalt) in 2016 for $2.65B and BHP's Niobium and Phosphates businesses in Brazil. In the DRC, CMOC's Tenke Fungurume mine (copper and cobalt; DRC Copper Belt; 80% CMOC, 20% Gécamines state) is among the world's largest cobalt-copper mines — producing ~235,000 tonnes Cu and ~18,000 tonnes Co in 2023, making CMOC the world's largest cobalt producer. CMOC also holds a 24.5% stake in Sandfire Resources' Motheo mine (Botswana). Through its DRC operations CMOC became a critical link in the EV supply chain: cobalt from Tenke Fungurume flows into cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries in Chinese EVs. CMOC's growth represents China's deliberate strategy to secure strategic mineral assets globally.
4
Inputs supplied
2
Goods downstream
4
Facilities
0
Stories
What they make
4 inputs CMOC Group (China Molybdenum) supplies
Click an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.
Where it shows up
Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something CMOC Group (China Molybdenum) makes — pick one to see the full supply chain.
Where they make it
4 facilities
CMOC Kobolda Cobalt Sulfate Refinery (Inner Mongolia, China) →
CNInner Mongolia · refinery
CMOC's Kobolda cobalt refinery in Jining, Inner Mongolia — processes DRC cobalt hydroxide shipped from CMOC's Tenke Fungurume and Kisanfu operations to produce cobalt sulfate and cobalt metal. CMOC is primarily a DRC miner that sells most hydroxide output to Huayou and GEM rather than refining domestically; Kobolda handles a portion of captive refining. Source: https://www.cmoc.com/
Kisanfu Mine (KFM) →
CDLualaba Province · mine
Kisanfu Mine (KFM; also referred to as Kamoto Fungurume Mine in some early reporting) is a copper-cobalt mine in Lualaba Province owned by Kisanfu Mining SAS (75% CMOC, 25% CATL). Acquired by CMOC from Freeport-McMoRan in 2020 for $550M. KFM ramped up aggressively in 2023-2024, contributing substantially to CMOC's cobalt production surge. Expected average annual cobalt capacity of ~50kt in 2025-2026. CATL's 25% stake makes this the only major DRC mine where a battery manufacturer holds a direct equity position in the upstream ore supply. Source: Copperbelt Katanga Mining; CMOC investor communications.
Las Bambas Copper Mine →
PEApurímac Region · mine
Las Bambas (Cotabambas Province, Apurímac Region, Peru; altitude ~4,000m; MMG Limited/CMOC Group 62.5%, Guoxin International Investment 22.5%, CITIC Metal 15%) is one of Peru's largest copper mines, producing approximately 270,000-300,000 tonnes/year of copper ore concentrate. The mine was sold by Glencore to MMG (a subsidiary of China Minmetals, now part of CMOC Group's orbit) in 2014 for ~$7B before it began production. Las Bambas opened in 2016 and immediately became a flashpoint for community conflict: the mine's concentrate trucks must travel approximately 200km on public roads (the 'Las Bambas Road') through indigenous Quechua communities in Apurímac, Cusco, and Arequipa regions. Community blockades of this road have repeatedly halted all mine output, with blockades occurring in 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 — some lasting weeks to months. Each sustained blockade halts approximately $7-8M/day in copper production. Source: MMG Limited Annual Reports 2022-2024.
Tenke Fungurume Mine (TFM) →
CDLualaba Province · mine
Tenke Fungurume Mine (TFM) is a major open-pit copper-cobalt mine in the Lualaba Province of the DRC, approximately 180km northwest of Lubumbashi. Operated by Tenke Fungurume Mining SAS (80% CMOC, 20% Gécamines). TFM was developed by Freeport-McMoRan and Lundin Mining; CMOC acquired the 80% stake from Freeport in 2016 for $2.65B. TFM produced the majority of CMOC's 114kt 2024 cobalt record. Nameplate cobalt capacity ~37kt/year. Source: CMOC Group production reports; NS Energy Business; USGS.
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map — where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Copper & Cobalt (DRC)
55%Molybdenum (China)
18%Niobium (Brazil)
16%Other Mining Assets
11%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains — chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Did you know2024
CMOC Group controls three entirely different critical mineral supply chains through three different geographies: (1) cobalt/copper in the DRC (EV battery cathodes + electrical wiring), (2) niobium in Brazil (HSLA steel for infrastructure), and (3) molybdenum in China (steel strengthening + high-temperature alloys for jet engines/turbines). A Chinese state-linked company is simultaneously the critical upstream supplier for EV decarbonization (cobalt), modern infrastructure (niobium), and aerospace propulsion (molybdenum) — three of the most strategically sensitive mineral supply chains in the US-China competition, all consolidated under one Chinese corporate roof. Western supply chain analysts tracking these three sectors rarely recognize they share a single Chinese corporate parent.
CMOC Group ↗Concentration2025
CMOC Group — originally a Chinese molybdenum miner (its full Chinese name is 洛阳钼业; Luoyang Molybdenum) — became the world's largest cobalt producer through two acquisitions of US-company Freeport-McMoRan's African assets: the Tenke Fungurume Mine stake acquired in 2016 for $2.65B and the Kisanfu (then 'Kisanfu Copper') mine acquired in 2020 for $550M. CATL simultaneously took a 25% stake in Kisanfu for $137.5M. The result: a Chinese molybdenum company owns the world's two largest cobalt mines, and the world's largest battery maker (CATL) has a direct equity stake in one of them. CMOC's 2024 cobalt production of 114,165 tonnes represented approximately 38-41% of global supply — one company, predominantly from two mines, both acquired from a US company that needed to sell assets to pay down debt from its oil operations. CMOC's market share increase from ~24% in 2023 to ~41% in 2024 is one of the fastest expansions of market dominance in any critical mineral in recent history. Source: Bloomberg (August 2024); Mining.com (CMOC 2024 production record); CMOC investor relations.
Mining.com ↗Origin2023
CMOC Group (China Molybdenum) originated as a domestic Chinese molybdenum miner in Henan Province, processing ore from the Sandaozhuang deposit near Luoyang. It listed publicly in 2007 and used capital market access to fund an aggressive internationalization strategy starting in 2016: acquiring Freeport-McMoRan's Tenke Fungurume copper-cobalt mine in the DRC for $2.65B, followed by CBMM's niobium assets in Brazil, Kisanfu copper-cobalt in the DRC (2022), and the Northparkes copper-gold mine in Australia. This transformed CMOC from an unknown regional molybdenum producer into the world's largest cobalt company and a top-tier copper producer in under a decade.
CMOC Group ↗