Gabon: Eramet's Response to the Gabonese Government's Announcement on Crude Manganese Export Ban Starting in 2029

Eramet Comilog—Compagnie minière de l’Ogooué—operates the world’s largest manganese mine. Alongside the Bangombé deposit, Eramet Comilog began mining the Okouma deposit in 2023, which will eventually increase the company’s production capacity to 10 million tonnes per year. Eramet Comilog makes a significant contribution to the country’s economic development by supporting numerous projects through partnerships or CSR programs.
2 June 2025
Eramet
press release

Eramet takes note of the Gabonese government’s intention to ban crude manganese exports from January 1st, 2029. This move is described as part of the country’s stated ambition to strengthen its industrial base, initiated by H.E. President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema and his Government.

A long-standing partner of Gabon and with over 30 years of presence in the country, Eramet has a track record as a committed investor in Gabon, supporting the country’s industrial development ambitions through investing in sustainable mining operations, constructing value-adding transformation facilities and upgrading key infrastructure.

Eramet acknowledges the Government’s ambition and, as the main co-shareholder in Comilog, will continue to work with the authorities in a spirit of constructive partnership and mutual respect.

Eramet will remain attentive to this policy shift and will work collaboratively to identify further opportunities for it to contribute to Gabon’s economic development in the long term, whilst maintaining the sustainability of its mining and metals operations. In particular, the Group aims to safeguard the strategic role of Comilog and Setrag in being an internationally significant supplier of manganese to the global steel industry — and the 10,460 Gabonese jobs they sustain.

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