According to Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane’s statement on Friday, Zambia’s copper production could increase to approximately one million tonnes by 2026 due to investments made in mine expansion, including those owned by First Quantum Minerals.
Zambia is Africa’s second-largest producer of copper, but production has been steadily declining despite government plans to increase output to roughly 3 million tonnes within the next ten years. Copper is essential to Zambia’s economic growth.
According to data from the Zambia Chamber of Mines. Copper output fell to 698,000 tonnes in 2023 from 763,000 tonnes the year before.
Mopani Copper Mines, which just attracted a new investor, and Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), which came back to life after the state settled an ownership dispute with Indian miner Vedanta Resources, could also boost production.
Musokotwane stated on the radio programme Radio Phoenix in Lusaka, “The 2 mining giants (Mopani and KCM) were out of the equation, and now they are back.”
According to Musokotwane, ongoing investments in increasing output at First Quantum’s Kansanshi mine are also anticipat to support the increase in metals output.
Zambia’s Ambitious Growth Plans: Lumwana Mine Investment to Boost Copper Output to 240,000 Tons by 2028
In order to increase production at its Lumwana mine in Zambia to roughly 240,000 tonnes of copper by 2028, rival Canadian company Barrick Gold announced last year that it was investing roughly $2 billion.
International Resources Holding (IRH), based in the United Arab Emirates, acquired a 51% share in the copper assets formerly held by Glencore. And made a commitment to invest $1.1 billion to increase output at the Mopani mines.
Additionally, Zambia hopes that new investment will boost mining activity at KCM. Which was almost shut down due to an ownership dispute with Vedanta that start in 2019 and resulted in attempts by the previous government to seize the assets.
The finance minister declared, “So we will be generating more than a million tonnes of copper by end of 2025 to 2026.”