ZAMBIA’S annual copper production will grow more than 40% to one million tons in 2027, said Bloomberg News citing the country’s Finance Ministry.
The Ministry of Finance and National Planning said in its medium-term budget plan published this week that production is projected to increase each year over from 2025 to 2027. That gain is predicated on the resolution of challenges at some of the country’s major mines, green-field projects and the expansion of existing facilities, said Bloomberg.
A number of international investors have taken interest in Zambia since the election of the pro-business President Hakainde Hichilema.
Hichilema, a former economist, has brought the feel-good factor back to Zambian mining. In December, the country agreed to sell its Mopani Copper to International Resources Holdings, a United Arab Emirates company which has promised to invest in Mopani.
Kobold Metals, a company in which Bill Gates has a stake, could spend $2.3bn building a new major copper mine in Zambia.
Zambia’s copper output hit a 14-year low of 698,566 tons in 2023 as its mining sector faced frequent tax changes and constant clashes with the previous government.
The southern African nation, which generates about 70% of its export earnings from copper, plans to increase the percentage of the its landmass that’s mapped for mineral resources through integrated geophysical, geological and satellite imagery surveys. Zambia plans to more than quadruple copper output to three million tons by 2031.
Africa’s second-largest copper producer is seeking to take advantage of what many predict will be a supply shortfall in the coming years, as the energy transition causes rising demand for the metal from electric vehicles to wind farms.
