Vedanta’s (NSE: VDAN) Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has signed a $498 million deal with China’s NERIN Engineering (SHA: 603257) to build a copper recovery plant that will add 70,000 metric tons of annual output by extracting metal from existing mine tailings.
The facility, to be built at KCM’s operations in Chingola, a town in Zambia’s copperbelt, will use leaching technology to process the mine waste and is expected to be the largest plant of its kind in Africa, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
The investment forms part of KCM’s expansion plans and Zambia’s ambition to raise annual copper output to 3 million metric tons by 2031 from 890,346 metric tons in 2025.
Under the agreement, China NERIN will provide engineering, procurement and construction services, along with support for commissioning, performance testing and training, KCM said.
Demand for copper, a key metal used in power grids, renewable energy infrastructure, data centres and electric vehicles, is expected to rise as countries pursue energy-transition goals.
Zambia is Africa’s second-largest copper producer after the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose exports of the red metal fell almost 15% in the first quarter.
(Reporting by Chris Mfula;Writing by Sfundo Parakozov;Editing by Joe Bavier)
