KOBOLD Metals, the mining company backed by US billionaires Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, has begun development of its Mingomba copper project in Zambia, targeting production in the early 2030s.
“We’ve started mine development,” KoBold Metals Africa CEO Mfikeyi Makayi told Reuters. “We’re now full swing into our permitting process to get approvals to start building the mine,” she said, adding that shaft sinking was expected in early 2027.
The project requires between $2.3bn and $2.5bn in capital investment and is expected to produce 300,000 tons of copper annually. KoBold has completed land acquisition for key infrastructure including processing plants, a tailings dam and administrative facilities.
On financing, Makayi said KoBold was in various conversations but that the company retained sufficient runway to advance the project independently for now. “Right now, it’s still only KoBold and we’re confident we’re okay,” she said.
Mingomba is central to Zambia’s ambition to more than triple copper output to three million metric tons by 2031, making the country Africa’s largest producer ahead of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The development comes as the US intensifies efforts to reduce China’s dominance in critical minerals supply chains. KoBold, which uses artificial intelligence to identify deposits of copper, cobalt, nickel and lithium, last year secured seven permits to explore for lithium and other minerals in the DRC, and is also active in Namibia, Zambia and Botswana.
