AI-Powered Zambian Copper Mine May Become World’s Third Largest

  • President Hichilema says KoBold may be among largest in world
  • Zambia is eager to start a state-owned metals trading company

Hakainde Hichilema

Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg
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Zambia may be home to the world’s third-largest copper mine after a startup backed by billionaire Bill Gates discovered huge deposits of the metal, the country’s president said.

San Francisco Bay Area-based KoBold Metals, which uses artificial intelligence to explore for materials key to the green-energy transition, said this week that its discovery at the Mingomba project far surpasses existing operations in top producer Chile by copper grade.