Overview
Recent documents, tribunal records and interviews with five people familiar with the matter show that Virtus, the U.S. firm which acquired Chemaf’s mines in March for $30 million from the miner’s shareholders, presented an exaggerated account of its mining experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Virtus’ public materials asserted a track record in the country based on operation of a copper and cobalt processing plant. However, the documentary record and multiple sources indicate the company did not in fact acquire the Likasi plant and that the facility has been inactive since 2012.
The Chemaf acquisition and its strategic context
The acquisition of Chemaf’s mines by Virtus was completed in March for $30 million and is framed within a broader U.S.-DRC partnership on strategic minerals signed last year. Under that arrangement, Washington agreed to help the DRC attract U.S. private investment in its mining sector in return for preferential access to critical minerals. The Chemaf transaction represents the first physical investment linked to that strategic initiative.
A senior Congolese official familiar with the approval process said that the security backgrounds of senior Virtus executives factored into Kinshasa’s decision to approve the deal, noting that Washington has been engaged in mediation efforts between the DRC and neighbouring Rwanda. The official’s account indicates that non-technical credentials were influential in the approval, but the official did not provide details about technical due diligence performed by Congolese authorities.
Claims about operational presence
On Virtus Minerals’ website in April 2025, the biography of chief executive Phil Braun stated that he "has established and operates the only American-owned copper and cobalt mining and processing company in the DRC through the subsidiary ROK Metals." Documents and the sources consulted for this report show that ROK Metals, the only identifiable footprint linked to Virtus in the DRC, did not complete the purchase of the long-idle copper-cobalt processing plant in Likasi, located in the Haut-Katanga province in southeastern Congo.
The Likasi facility has been idle since 2012, according to tribunal records that supervised the planned sale of the plant. A May 2024 order from the Likasi civil tribunal indicates that the plant had still not been sold by that date. Multiple attempts to sell or transfer the facility were postponed or annulled after prospective buyers failed to make the required full payments.
A senior judicial source told investigators that the plant remains registered to its original owner, CAM Resources, and that it has never been restarted. A lawyer who formerly represented CAM Resources said he was no longer in contact with the company and believed its principals had left the country. The state-owned lender Sofide, which is the privileged creditor of CAM Resources seeking repayment via a potential sale, told investigators the facility has not been sold and remains inactive.
Prior business presentations and website changes
Virtus’ founders had previously operated in the DRC through an entity called Virtus Capital and Operations (VCO). Until mid-March, VCO’s website listed only one example of its activities there: ROK Metals. That reference was removed from the site in mid-March, days after the company was contacted seeking comment about its activities in the country.
Despite the unresolved ownership of the Likasi plant and its inactivity, Virtus and ROK Metals continued to present the site as an operational base in public statements. ROK Metals’ website described the company as "actively developing a copper/cobalt leaching beneficiation plant in Likasi, which is set to yield high-grade copper cathode production in the latter half of 2023." Documents and sources show the company did not own the plant and it was not producing cathode output in 2023.
USAID engagement and suspended grant
In June 2024, the U.S. foreign aid agency USAID announced it had awarded ROK Metals a $2 million grant intended to increase output. A USAID press release at the time described ROK Metals as "a Congolese copper cathode processing plant in Likasi that has U.S. private sector investment." A document reviewed for this report shows that the grant was suspended in August 2024. That document did not specify an explicit reason for the suspension, but it stated that reinstatement would require ROK Metals to provide proof of acquisition of the Likasi plant.
A source with direct knowledge of the matter said the grant was suspended after USAID learned that ROK Metals did not own the plant, contrary to earlier representations made by the company’s principals to the programme. Correspondence reviewed shows that five months after the suspension, Phil Braun continued to update USAID officials on efforts to complete the plant purchase. The same source said no USAID funds were ever disbursed, as ROK Metals had not acquired the plant by the time USAID was dismantled in July 2025.
The U.S. State Department, which now handles media inquiries related to the former USAID, did not respond to requests for comment about the agency’s dealings with ROK Metals.
Official backing and unanswered questions
The U.S. State Department issued a statement saying it "fully supports" Virtus Minerals’ efforts to acquire and develop the Chemaf assets. The statement framed the acquisition as "an initial flagship U.S. investment in the DRC, to showcase that the U.S. private sector interest is real and will catalyze further investment." The State Department spokesperson did not answer follow-up questions about whether the security experience of Virtus executives influenced the DRC’s decision or whether the transaction carries any U.S. security guarantees.
Virtus declined to provide an on-the-record comment about the extent of its mining experience for this story. Phil Braun did not respond to a request for comment, and Andrew Powch, a co-founder, declined to provide on-record comments about the findings.
Critics urge thorough vetting
One expert raised concerns about the transparency of the U.S.-DRC strategic minerals partnership and the adequacy of due diligence conducted before endorsing or facilitating the transaction. Jean-Pierre Okenda, executive director of Sentinel of Natural Resources, an NGO that advocates for governance and transparency in the mining sector, said it is essential that the DRC government satisfy itself that Virtus has the necessary technical, financial and operational capacity to run the Chemaf mines.
The question of capacity is particularly significant given the global importance of minerals produced in the DRC. The country supplies more than 70 percent of the world’s cobalt, a metal used in electric vehicle batteries, and also holds substantial copper and lithium reserves. Any shortcomings in operational capability could have implications for mineral output and supply chains.
Leadership backgrounds
Virtus is led by Phil Braun, who served as a U.S. Army Green Beret, and Andrew Powch, a former U.S. Navy officer. The senior Congolese official described earlier said that the security experience of senior Virtus executives was a factor weighed during Kinshasa’s approval process, though that official did not provide further detail on how such credentials were validated during the review.
Where the evidence stands
The combined record from tribunal orders, creditor statements, a former legal representative of CAM Resources, internal documents and multiple people with direct knowledge indicates that the Likasi plant remained with its original owner and had not resumed operations. Attempts to sell the facility had stalled amid non-payment by bidders. Public presentations by Virtus-linked entities that described an operational presence at the Likasi site were at odds with the documentary trail.
State and aid agency responses to questions about the transaction and earlier representations remain limited. That leaves open questions about the extent to which technical and ownership claims were independently verified by either DRC authorities or U.S. agencies involved in supporting the strategic minerals partnership.
Implications
The Chemaf deal is positioned as a marker of U.S. private sector engagement in the DRC’s mining industry. Documents and multiple insiders’ accounts, however, show that at least some claims of operating capability underpinning that engagement were not supported by the available record for the Likasi plant. Observers and governance advocates have urged more rigorous verification of ownership and operational capacity before further investments proceed.
For now, the key facts are straightforward: Virtus paid $30 million to acquire Chemaf’s mines from its shareholders; the company and its affiliate ROK Metals had represented an operational footprint centered on a Likasi processing plant; court records and creditor statements show the plant remained under its original ownership and inactive; and a USAID grant linked to ROK Metals was suspended after the agency required proof of plant acquisition that was not provided.
Those facts form the basis of ongoing questions about transparency and due diligence in the earliest stages of the U.S.-DRC strategic minerals partnership.