Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) Eurasian Group

Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) specializes in the extraction and processing of mineral resources - one of the diversified mining and metallurgical groups in the world with fully integrated enterprises in the fields of mining and processing of natural resources, power, logistics and marketing.

Aktivs

At the end of 2019, Eurasian Resources Group is a leading diversified company in the field of natural resources extraction and processing. ERG operates in 15 countries. The chief executive officer of the company is Benedikt Sobotka.

Benedict Sobotka Company:

• is part of the founders of the Global Alliance for the Battery Sector, which was created with the participation of the World Economic Forum (the Alliance monitors the work of the ethical international system for the supply of lithium-ion batteries);
• is among the main producers of cobalt and copper in the world;
• oversees a third of Kazakhstan's metalworking as well as mining industries;
• mines and processes copper and cobalt ore and produces copper and cobalt in Africa.

Business in Kazakhstan

ERG is a producer of high-carbon ferrochrome for chromium content and one of the largest suppliers of iron ore and aluminum products in the Eurasian region. It is the only high-grade aluminum producer in Kazakhstan. The Group is also among the top suppliers of copper and cobalt.

ERG is a third of the mining and metallurgical complex of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as one of the key suppliers of electricity and a large railway operator in Central Asia. The Group's most important enterprises are located in Kazakhstan:

• TNK Kazhrom,
• Sokolovo-Sarbay Mining and Processing Production Association (SSGPO),
• "Aluminum of Kazakhstan,"
• "Kazakhstan Electrolysis Plant" (FEZ),
• Euro-Asian Energy Corporation (ECE),
• "Shubarkol komir,"
• Transport group "TransCom,"
• "3-Energoortalyk" and
• ERG Service.

Business in Africa

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, ERG mines and processes copper and cobalt ore at Boss Mining, Frontier and Comide. A number of other development projects close to completion are also located in this country, including the Metalkol Roan Tailings Reclamation (RTR) project.

The ERG smelter, Chambishi Metals PLC, is an enterprise in Zambia. It is one of the world's major producers and the only facility in the world that produces copper and cobalt traded on the London Metal Exchange.

The company also has projects for the production of coal, manganese, platinum, bauxite and fluorite in various countries of the African continent, including, Republic of South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Mali Mozambique

Business in Brazil

In Brazil, ERG continues to develop the Pedra de Ferro project, an integrated mining and logistics complex for the production of iron ore with a capacity of 20 million tons per year.

ERG is the founding partner of the Global Alliance for the Battery Sector, a project created on the World Economic Forum platform and working to implement sustainable, responsible and inclusive development practices in value chains for the fast-growing electric vehicle and gadget sectors.

History

2024: DR Congo halts ERG companies due to lack of local contractors

In April 2024, the DRC Government suspended nine subcontractors working in the Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) copper and cobalt mines. According to the subcontracting regulator in the private sector, the suspension is due to non-compliance with the rules regarding local content. Under DRC law, mining companies must hire local subcontractors, more than 50% of which are controlled by Congolese. One of the main producers of copper and cobalt in the country, the Eurasian Resources Group, is accused of failing to comply with this measure.

Congo's regulator general claims that the Congolese at the head of ERG subcontractors are shareholders only on paper, in fact they are not engaged in operations and do not manage business.

At the same time, the Metalkol mine is one of the main cobalt mines in the world, and the Frontier mine, which produced more than 100,000 tons of copper in 2023, has not yet been affected. The ERG has a grace period to find subcontractors.

2023: DR Congo halts company's copper-cobalt production due to pollution

The Ministry of Mines suspended the copper-cobalt production of ERG Boss Mining in 2023, accusing the company of environmental pollution.

2019: Programmes to remove children in Africa from state mining

In 2019, the company is engaged in preventing child labor in Africa, creating conditions so that children are not forced to engage in artisanal cobalt mining. Thanks to the partnership of the ERG and the "International Good Shepherd Foundation" in Kolwezi, a major Child Protection Centre Bon Pasteur was established in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

For more details, see: Alexander Mashkevich and the environmental scandal at SPIEF: who is right?