America Sold This Mine to China for $2.65B. Now It's Buying the Copper Back.

America sold its biggest cobalt-copper mine to China in 2016. For $2.65 billion. Ten years later, the United States is buying the copper back — through Congo's state mining company. Not from China directly. THE 2016 SALE On May 9, 2016, Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) — the Arizona-based American miner — signed a Stock Purchase Agreement to sell its 70% stake in TF Holdings to China Molybdenum (CMOC). Closing price: $2.65 billion in cash, plus up to $120 million in contingent payments. The sale closed November 16, 2016. TFHL indirectly owns 80% of Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) — meaning Freeport effectively gave up a 56% stake in one of Africa's biggest copper-cobalt mines. Why did Freeport sell? Cobalt prices were low in 2016. The EV battery boom hadn't started yet. Hindsight is brutal. THE CMOC DECADE For 10 years, CMOC ran TFM. China Molybdenum became the world's #1 cobalt supplier. Most of the cobalt from the Tenke-Fungurume concession in Lualaba province, DRC, flowed east — straight to Chinese refiners and battery makers. THE 2026 REVERSAL On January 12, 2026, Congo's state mining company Gécamines — which holds a 20% stake in TFM alongside CMOC's 80% — exercised its right to take its 20% allotment of TFM's copper output. That's 100,000 tonnes of copper. Gécamines selected Mercuria, the Swiss commodities trading group, as the strategic partner for financial, logistical, and technical support. The copper is shipped to the United States — linked to "certain agreements" between Congo and the U.S. government (the Strategic Partnership Agreement signed in Washington on December 4, 2025). Then Congo raised the planned U.S. copper export to 500,000 tonnes — five times more. America isn't taking the mine back. It's taking the output back. Through the side door — via Gécamines, not CMOC. Planes flew east. Cobalt may not flow west. Follow Money Maps for more geopolitics, mapped out. Sources: • FCX Form 8-K filings, SEC (FY2016) — Stock Purchase Agreement May 9, 2016, $2.65B + up to $120M contingent, closed Nov 16, 2016 • Fastmarkets (Jan 2026) — Gécamines 100,000 tonnes copper to US in 2026 • Mercuria press release — strategic partnership with Gécamines for US export • CNBC Africa (Jan 12, 2026) — Gécamines 20% rights exercised on TFM output • Mining.com— DRC raised US copper sales target to 500,000 tonnes (5×) • China-Global South Project — US-DRC copper deal context • White House Fact Sheet (Dec 4, 2025) — US-DRC Strategic Partnership Agreement #congo #drc #cobalt #copper #china #america #freeport #cmoc #glencore #gecamines #mercuria #criticalminerals #geopolitics #moneymaps #shorts