Exceptions are provided for and may justify the use of a subcontracting company that does not meet these criteria, for example, in the event of a lack of expertise on Congolese territory. However, the law and its implementing decrees strictly regulate these exceptions.

The law subjects the methods of awarding subcontracts to a specific legal regime and provides for numerous specific implementation provisions in favor of subcontractors, particularly in the terms of payment of their remuneration. The implementing decrees have supplemented the legal framework, sometimes going beyond the law, and creating a Regulatory Authority to which private sector subcontractors must pay fees, based on the amounts invoiced to the main companies.

The mining sector is capable of contributing to the realization of the government's vision of making the DRC an emerging country in socio-economic terms.

The adoption of the revised mining code in 2018 imposed new rules of the game that emphasize transparency and good governance in the sector, as well as consideration of "local content" and social and environmental responsibility (CSR). Mining must enable the country's development and benefit the Congolese people. 

In the cobalt sector, one of the applications of this code concerned the artisanal sector which provides around 20% of cobalt production and has some 200,000 artisanal miners. 

Combining governance and CSR requirements, measures in favor of ethical cobalt have been taken, including the establishment of the Regulatory and Control Authority for Strategic Mineral Substances Markets (Arecoms), as well as the granting of a monopoly on the purchase of artisanal cobalt to the Entreprise Générale du Cobalt (EGC), a 100% subsidiary of Gécamines, launched at the end of March 2021. They aim to combat child labor, clean up the production and supply chain of artisanal cobalt, structure the sector, and ensure good working conditions and remuneration for artisans.