Leon Coetzer

LEON Coetzer’s Jubilee Metals Group maintained its drive into Zambia in 2024. The diversified metals and processing company concluded its due diligence on Project G, an open-pit copper mine in Zambia, and elected to raise its stake in the project to 65% from 51%. This is a key part of the company’s Zambia copper strategy, which is targeting an initial production capacity target of 25,000 tons of copper per year. Jubilee also dealt with one of the biggest constraints on mining operations in Zambia: power. 

In August, it announced the signing of a three-year renewable power purchase agreement with Lunsemfwa Hydro Power Company (LHPC), an independent hydro and solar power producer in Zambia, to provide continuous power for its Roan copper concentrator and Sable refinery at competitive prices. Jubilee also has an option under the agreement for a further 10MW of solar-generated power discounted by more than 30% below the initial power purchase agreement rates. 

Jubilee under Coetzer remains focused on technical innovation to tap value from assets that others have abandoned, notably from on-surface copper waste material. This gives the company a green sheen – copper is a key metal for the global energy transition while the processing of mining residues and waste materials addresses the environmental legacies of the mining sector. In South Africa, Jubilee remains on track to reach its goal of producing two million tons of chrome concentrate per annum.