London-listed Critical Metals plc said on October 2 that it had started its 2026 field programme at the Molulu copper-cobalt project in the Katangan Copperbelt of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the company announcement distributed through the London Stock Exchange’s RNS regulatory news service, the programme was approved for an October 1–8 operational window; personnel and equipment had been mobilised and site preparation was under way. The announcement said that preparation remained subject to final site confirmation. Work includes surveying, geological mapping, trenching and sampling, alongside quality-control procedures and data integration. The stated purpose is to assess whether an initial target could support what the company calls “scout mining,” a limited-scale mining operation.

Molulu is described as a historically producing project about 100 kilometres from Lubumbashi and 30 kilometres northwest of Malambwe village. Critical Metals says it holds a 70% interest, with DRC-based partners holding the remaining 30%. The company says it will report initial findings after data validation and technical review. The announcement does not report a restart of production, a resource or reserve estimate, an economic feasibility result or a commercial mining decision. The field programme is an evaluation stage; assay results and subsequent operating steps had not yet been published.