The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo is opposed to a proposal by Chemaf SA to sell its copper and cobalt mines in the country to China's Norin Mining, according to a document seen by Reuters…Chemaf, a long-time partner of commodities trader Trafigura, said in June it had agreed to sell its mines in Congo to the unit of Chinese state-backed defence and industrial giant, China North Industries Corp (Norinco)…Kizito Pakabomba, Congo's mines minister, said the deal is in breach of state miner Gecamines' lease agreements with Chemaf and recommended that the transaction be stopped, according to the minutes of a council of ministers' meeting on Friday seen by Reuters…China's miners, most of which are state-backed, have become the biggest investors in Congo as the world's second-largest economy aggressively pursues copper and cobalt supplies for its rapidly expanding electric vehicle industry.

Hundreds of Volkswagen staff are spending time at Xpeng as the German auto giant and Chinese startup work to create electric cars for China, Xpeng co-president Brian Gu told CNBC on Monday…He also said the partnership will help Xpeng’s global ambitions…Volkswagen in July 2023 announced a $700 million investment into Xpeng to jointly develop two electric cars for delivery in China in 2026. The vehicles will be based on the platform for Xpeng’s G9, a midsize electric crossover SUV…Xpeng’s driver-assist technology is widely considered one of the best currently available in China…Gu emphasized the forthcoming vehicles will be “very different” from those that currently sold by Xpeng or Volkswagen. He said the cars would likely have “better range, charging, much smarter driving, more feature luxury technology, for the same price, potentially.”…The company has, meanwhile, pushed overseas, as have Chinese electric car companies BYD and Nio. In the second quarter, Xpeng said its overseas sales exceeded 10% of total revenue for the first time…Xpeng CEO and Founder He Xiaopeng told Bloomberg last week that the Chinese automaker is in preliminary stages of selecting a site in the European Union as part of future plans for localizing production…He said the 10-year-old startup aims to reach at least 40 countries and regions by the end of this year, up from around 30 so far…The two companies in February announced that they had entered a “joint sourcing program” for auto parts…Xpeng has invested in robotics since 2020 and is now focused on humanlike robots that can handle multiple tasks in factories, Gu told CNBC. He indicated Xpeng would likely reveal more details soon.

Waymo is partnering with auto engineering firm Magna to open a second assembly facility in Arizona, Forbes has learned. The plant will equip thousands of electric Jaguar SUVs as part of the company’s rapid expansion…Waymo confirmed to Forbes that the new factory is in Mesa, Arizona, and will be operated by Magna to outfit I-Pace SUVs with cameras, laser lidar, radar and other sensors, as well as computing hardware and in-cabin monitors under contract for Mountain View, California-based Waymo. Currently, all Waymo vehicles undergo final assembly at a small factory Magna has operated in Detroit since 2019…The expansion in Arizona comes after Waymo last week said that its driverless service now provides at least 100,000 paid rides per week to the public, just months after it topped 50,000 paid rides per week. That number is likely to double again as it continues to expand in the cities where it already operates and prepares to roll out the service in Austin, Texas, later this year…The Mesa project comes after Alphabet said last month it’s investing an additional $5 billion into Waymo. That funding “will enable Waymo to continue to build the world’s leading autonomous driving company,” Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s outgoing CFO, said on the company’s second-quarter results call…Currently, the I-Pace is the main Waymo model, replacing its original fleet of Chrysler Pacifica minivans. Waymo also recently began U.S. road tests of its next-generation vehicle, a small electric van designed by China’s Zeekr brand. 

Bismuth costs in Europe have risen to nine-year highs as tight supplies are worsened by traders in top producer China offering on a local exchange instead of exporting the metal used to make medicines…Rates of bismuth, also used in solder, alloys, metallurgical additives and atomic research, are currently around $7 per pound on the European spot market, the highest levels since 2015 and up more than 75% considering that early May…Chinese traders attributed the rally to tighter bismuth products from lead and zinc refiners amidst increasingly stringent environmental assessments…Global bismuth production last year amounted to 20,000 tons,. with 80% of that coming from China, according to information from the. U.S. Geological Study.