Zambia stands on the brink of hosting one of the world’s largest copper mines, as a venture supported by billionaire Bill Gates has unearthed substantial copper deposits, according to the country’s president.
KoBold Metals, headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area and employing artificial intelligence for material exploration vital to the shift towards green energy, recently announced a groundbreaking discovery at the Mingomba project. This find eclipses existing operations in leading producer Chile in terms of copper grade.
President Hakainde Hichilema expressed his enthusiasm, stating in an interview near Lusaka, the capital, that the mine would not only become Zambia’s largest but also rank among the world’s top three. He projected its eventual production to exceed 500,000 to 600,000 metric tons.
Comparisons were drawn to existing giants like Escondida in Chile, the world’s largest copper mine, which produced over a million metric tons last year, and Grasberg in Indonesia, the next largest at about 770,000 metric tons in 2022.
KoBold President Josh Goldman likened the potential of the Zambian mine to that of the Kamoa-Kakula project in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. This development, spearheaded by Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. and China’s Zijin Mining Group Co., yielded nearly 400,000 tons of copper last year, with the capacity for 620,000 tons annually.
KoBold’s investors, including Breakthrough Energy Ventures supported by Gates and Jeff Bezos, T. Rowe Price Group Inc., Bond Capital, Andreesen Horowitz, and Equinor ASA, have been instrumental in advancing exploration efforts in Zambia.
President Hichilema emphasized the significance of this discovery for Zambia, especially considering the country’s aim to boost copper output to three million tons by 2031. With production in Africa’s second-largest copper producer dipping below 700,000 tons last year, a new operation of this magnitude could significantly contribute to reaching that target. Though KoBold has yet to provide specifics on production levels, estimates suggest a potential investment of around $2 billion to develop the Mingomba project.
Hichilema expressed optimism, stating that such developments would propel Zambia closer to achieving its ambitious copper production goals.
