March 3 (Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of Congo produced 85,855 tonnes of cobalt in 2020, up 10% from 2019, the central bank said on Wednesday, with copper production also jumping 11.8% year-on-year. The world’s biggest cobalt producer and Africa’s top copper miner took a hit when prices of the battery metals plunged during the global pandemic last year, but a strong rally has helped boost output in the heavily mining-reliant country. Copper production hit 1.587 million tonnes in 2020, the central bank’s statistics showed. Copper prices have surged to their highest in nearly a decade, while cobalt has also staged a strong recovery. (Reporting by Hereward Holland and Helen Reid; Editing by Jan Harvey)