JOHANNESBURG — In what’s being hailed as a major win for the Trump administration against Chinese domination of the rare earth minerals market, the U.S. has supported an American company, Virtus Minerals, in developing two major mines producing cobalt and copper in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

This is claimed to be the first U.S. rare earth minerals acquisition in the African nation since President Donald Trump announced the Washington Accord last December.

Historically, China has been the heavy lifter of these metals. The Strategic Studies Institute reported that 80% of the world’s cobalt is produced in the DRC — and 80% of that is controlled by China. Cobalt, used in a wide range of applications, from electric cars and mobile phones to military jets, is on the U.S. government’s list of critical minerals. Copper, also on the list, has traditional uses such as piping for plumbing, but is also needed in electronics and the automotive industry.

During December’s signing at the White House, Trump made clear the administration’s fight to curb Chinese domination of minerals and help American mining companies make a major impact in the DRC. “A great day for Africa, a great day for the world,” Trump said.  The accord also aims to bring an end to fighting between the DRC and Rwandan-backed forces, although the Rwandan-supported M23 rebel group have continued their hostile infiltration in the Eastern DRC.

American mining company Virtus is, with U.S. support, claiming to be “the first U.S.-owned operator back in the DRC in more than a decade”, with its investment in Chemaf, a local cobalt and copper producer with two mining operations, one, Étoile, in Lubumbashi and Mutoshi, in Kolwezi. Together it’s planned the mines will produce a combined 75,000 tonnes of copper, and 20,000 tonnes of cobalt a year. The processing plants are currently under development and will come online next year.

The minerals will ultimately be exported to the west through the Lobito Corridor to a port in Angola. Lobito is the rail route the U.S. has backed with a $5 billion investment commitment, with, according to a Virtus statement, “the aim of obtaining a secure, auditable copper and cobalt supply chain for the U.S. and its allies.”

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Frans Cronje, president of the Washington-based Yorktown Foundation for Freedom, says the Virtus projects are significant because they show the administration is seriously trying to change the balance in a minerals battle with China.

He told Fox News Digital, “This development signals a more assertive United States effort to compete with China for access to Africa’s critical mineral base, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where cobalt and copper are strategically vital to global energy and defense supply chains.”

Cronje added, “China has built deep structural dominance across much of Africa’s resource sector over the past two decades, but U.S.-backed initiatives such as this suggest a shift towards more direct engagement, rather than relying on Chinese-controlled supply routes. This matters because Africa’s vast resource endowment, combined with its geostrategic position along key Atlantic and Indian Ocean corridors, makes it central to future global economic and security competition.”

A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “President Trump and Secretary Rubio remain firmly committed to supporting U.S. companies that seek to do business in the DRC.”

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“The United States government fully supports the efforts of Virtus Minerals,” the spokesperson continued. “This acquisition serves as an initial flagship U.S. investment in the DRC, and sends a clear signal that the U.S. private sector interest is real and will catalyze further investment in alignment with the U.S.-DRC Strategic Partnership Agreement, which positions the DRC to play an integral role in the Trump Administration’s global efforts to secure critical mineral supply chains.”

The spokesperson added that “increased U.S. investment will create quality jobs for American and Congolese workers, foster skills development and support local communities that have long been exploited by the opaque systems constructed and perpetuated by adversarial foreign actors who have controlled the DRC’s critical minerals sector.”

Virtus holds 56 mining licenses in total in the DRC. Phillip Braun, Virtus Minerals CEO and Chemaf chairman, told Fox News Digital, “Our first goal is to bring the Étoile and Mutoshi plants up to full production. From there, we will explore everything Chemaf’s 56 mining permits have to offer — copper, cobalt and other metals like tungsten.”

“None of this would be possible,” Braun added, “without the strong partnership now growing between the United States and the DRC, and the support of leaders in both countries who saw what was possible. We look forward to bringing our two nations closer by building a steady, trusted supply of the minerals we depend on and supporting other American companies that want to invest in the DRC any way we can.”

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“A more active U.S. presence in these supply chains,” Cronje continued, “would mark a significant rebalancing of influence on the continent, with implications not only for resource access but for broader geopolitical alignment in regions that are becoming increasingly contested.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the DRC government for comment, but did not receive a response.

The United States has waived sanctions on Iranian oil for 60 days following the first day of talks for a peace deal, with US President Donald Trump saying he will “do what I have to do” if Iran does not stick to its side of the agreement. Direct talks between the US and Iran were triggered by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two sides last week.

The parties have also established “a communication line” regarding the Strait of Hormuz to “avoid incidents and miscommunication with the aim of safe passage for commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz”. Iran closed the strait, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas is shipped in peacetime, after US-Israeli attacks began at the end of February. This caused shockwaves through global energy markets, and the price of oil spiked.

A joint statement released by mediators Qatar and Pakistan on Monday said: “Chief negotiators will report regularly to the High Level Committee and lead working groups focused on nuclear, sanctions, and a monitoring and dispute resolution group to ensure the effective implementation of the MoU, and on other matters.”

But, besides sanctions relief, the two sides appear to disagree on what else they had agreed on.

On Tuesday, Iranian state media reported that the US had also agreed to release $12bn of frozen Iranian assets, but Washington has not confirmed this. And, while US Vice President JD Vance stated on Monday that Iran would allow international nuclear inspectors back into the country, Iran denied this on Tuesday.

Several other major sticking points to a peace deal have yet to be negotiated, including the fate of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile and the specifics of the sanctions relief.

In this explainer, we break down what each side has said about ongoing talks so far – and what they are disagreeing about.

Will the US release frozen Iranian assets?

On Monday, Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said an agreement had been reached with the US to release $12bn in frozen Iranian funds.

But Vance said only that if Iranian assets are unfrozen, they will be used by Iran to buy US agricultural products. “They’re going to go to make American farmers richer and feed the Iranian people,” he said.

“We’re doing very well in terms of negotiating a fair and reasonable deal. One of the things that we are doing also, and it came up last night, is money that’s being unfrozen is going to be used to buy food, and the food’s going to be bought exclusively through the United States from our farmers,” Trump emphasised on Monday.

“And corn, soybeans, all of the things they need are going to be bought from our farmers. So our farmers are very happy. I’ve had a lot of calls; they were very happy about this.”

On Tuesday, he added in a Truth Social post: “The Money and/or Sanctions that the U.S. Treasury is releasing goes into escrow, controlled by the U.S.A., and will be used for the purchase of food and medical supplies, exclusively from the United States, including Corn, Wheat, and Soybeans from our great American Farmers. These are things that are desperately needed by Iran. This is a humanitarian crisis, and I feel it is necessary to help, NOW, before it is too late. Talks are going well! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

However, on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei dismissed reports that Iran would be forced to buy US foodstuffs, saying the assets “will be released and will be employed with absolute liberty by Iran in order to purchase whatever goods or commodities needed by the nation”.

What sanctions will be lifted on Iran?

So far, the US has waived sanctions on Iranian oil for 60 days, freeing up an estimated 67 million barrels of oil currently being stored on boats and tankers in the Gulf. The Chinese state and independent refineries are the biggest buyers of this oil.

On Tuesday, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva reported good progress in talks.

“Our colleagues continue to discuss in very good talks yesterday at technical level,” said Ali Bahreini, adding that two working groups will be established within the coming days to discuss the removal of sanctions against Iran and issues related to Iranian nuclear activities.

Iran is one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world, having been subject to US sanctions for decades. The lifting of some of these under the 2015 nuclear agreement was reversed when Trump walked out of the landmark deal. Billions of dollars of Iranian assets remain frozen in foreign banks as a result.

In an X post, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote that sanctions on Iranian oil exports and petrochemical sales had been waived, the blockade had been lifted, a number of frozen Iranian assets had been released and a major reconstruction and development plan for Iran had been launched. Araghchi said key Iranian conditions had now been met.

Reporting from the White House, Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher said: “This is a big deal with the oil sanctions being removed because up until this point, the Iranians sold oil, but they sold at a huge discount because many companies, many countries didn’t want to fall on the wrong side of American sanctions.

“Now, they can actually sell their oil at full market rates, and that’s a huge boost for the Iranian economy. Now, the intention is, of course, that we reach a deal where all the sanctions will disappear, but we’ll only get confirmation of that if we get to a final deal that is finally sent to the United Nations for approval by a Security Council resolution.”

Al Jazeera’s Almigdad Alruhaid, reporting from Tehran, said: “This is a very crucial point for Iran. We have seen this as a central Iranian demand for relieving sanctions and frozen assets.”

Will Iran allow nuclear inspectors in?

The two sides have very different accounts of what was agreed on Monday.

Vance claimed Iran had agreed to invite International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors back into the country. He added that communications with the IAEA could happen as soon as Monday.

“That is a major milestone for the American people. And the first step in permanently denuclearising- permanently ending a nuclear weapons programne in Iran,” Vance said.

On Tuesday, however, Iranian officials denied this.

At a news conference in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Baghaei said Iran has not met with IAEA Director General Grossi and has no clear schedule for IAEA inspectors to examine Iranian nuclear facilities.

The IAEA is the UN’s nuclear watchdog. IAEA inspected Iran’s nuclear programme under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran negotiated by former US President Barack Obama, but which Trump pulled the US out of in 2018.

Iran eventually barred inspectors from entering the country last year following the 12-day war with Israel, in which Israel pounded nuclear and military sites. The US also joined the war, attacking three Iranian nuclear sites.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump weighed into the dispute about what had actually been agreed, when he posted on his Truth Social platform: “Despite their protestations and false statements to the contrary, coupled with the drumbeat of the Fake News, which is doing everything possible to make the U.S. Victory as small and insignificant as possible, Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future (Infinity!!!). This will insure [sic] “Nuclear Honesty.” If they did not agree to this, there would be no further negotiations!”

He added: “Based on this and other major concessions being made by Iran, I have agreed to allow the Hormuz Strait to remain OPEN, with no further Naval Blockade. However, all ships are remaining in place should it be necessary to reinstitute the Blockade, which seems, at this point, highly unlikely.”

What about other nuclear talks?

Vance said the US and Iran had made “a lot of great progress” on other nuclear talks, without providing additional details.

Iran’s uranium enrichment programme has been a chief bone of contention between the US and Iran.

Under the JCPOA, which Trump pulled the US out of in 2018, Iran had been allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.67 percent only – enough for the purposes of a nuclear power programme. Inspectors confirmed that it had stuck to this limit.

But in the years since 2018, it is believed to have resumed higher levels of enrichment and currently holds 440kg (970lb) of uranium enriched to 60 percent. This is still short of weapons-grade, at 90 percent, but is the point at which it becomes much quicker to achieve 90 percent enrichment.

While the US has been calling for Iran to hand over its stockpile of enriched uranium to it, Iran has consistently stated that it will not do this, although it has, at times, appeared willing to consider the prospect of handing it over to a third country. The agreement announced last week appeared to suggest that diluting it on site in Iran could also be an option.