By: OrePulse

Virtus Minerals, an American company that recently acquired copper-cobalt assets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo formerly operated under the name Chemaf, told the country's mines minister this week that its Mutoshi-Étoile project has created more than 2,000 direct jobs and generated close to 2,000 indirect ones. The company also said it was targeting overall completion of the project by December 2026.

The figures were presented to Mines Minister Louis Watum Kabamba, who received a delegation representing the Mutoshi-Étoile project on Thursday, October 22, 2026. The meeting covered the state of construction work, the project's development prospects and the socioeconomic benefits it was expected to bring to Lualaba province, where Mutoshi-Étoile is located near Kolwezi, a mining hub in southern DRC.

The company's presentation to the ministry did not include financial details of the Chemaf acquisition or information on how the project was being financed, and it did not name other members of the delegation that accompanied the presentation.

Alongside the jobs figures, Virtus Minerals said it has mobilized 81 subcontractors for the project. The company did not break down how the jobs or subcontractor numbers are split between the Mutoshi and Étoile sites, and the totals it presented have not been independently verified.

The company also described a separate transition process underway at the nearby Makala site. There, Virtus Minerals said it plans to extend support to 8,500 artisanal miners through measures it described as promoting financial inclusion and arranging housing, without detailing either measure further.

Virtus Minerals additionally said it intends to rehabilitate the Mutoshi technical school. The company framed the plan as a contribution to vocational training and the development of skills among the local workforce.

At the Étoile site, the company said construction work was continuing, with the December 2026 completion date depending on work proceeding on schedule and on a series of planned operational steps being completed as scheduled.

Kabamba, for his part, acknowledged the progress Virtus Minerals presented, and said compliance with the laws and regulations currently in force in the DRC remained a priority for the ministry. He also voiced support for what he termed structuring investments in the mining sector, without citing any specific area of concern regarding Mutoshi-Étoile.

The company and the ministry both pointed to the months ahead as a decisive period for Mutoshi-Étoile. Construction progress is one measure they cited; another is whether the jobs, artisanal-mining support and vocational training the company has promised actually materialize. The December 2026 target date was expected to serve as the main benchmark against which the project's progress would be measured going forward. As with the employment and subcontracting totals, the project's remaining timeline and the scope of its social programs rested on the company's own reporting, which the ministry did not independently confirm.