Zijin Mining Group said flooding at its Kamoa-Kakula mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo is putting its full-year copper production target under pressure, Bloomberg reported.
This has added to global supply concerns as prices hover near record highs.
The Chinese miner expects its attributable output from Kamoa-Kakula to fall by as much as 57,000 tons this year, according to its half-year report published on Friday, 21 August.
Zijin owns just over 44% of the project.
The mine is still ramping up after seismic activity forced operations to halt last year and triggered subsequent flooding.
The setback threatens Zijin’s 2026 target of 1.2 million tons of mined copper across operations in China, Serbia and Congo.
Ivanhoe Mines, Zijin’s partner at Kamoa-Kakula, had already cut the mine’s 2026 production guidance in April to 290,000 to 330,000 tons – 380,000 to 420,000 tons.
The disruption comes as copper trades above $14,000 a ton, close to its record high. Supply setbacks at major mines have tightened the outlook for copper, while demand expectations remain strong, driven by electrification and rapid investment in artificial-intelligence infrastructure.
