Zambia Plans State Firm to Own 30% of Critical Minerals Mines
- Mining minister wants more benefits from energy transition
- African nation has ambitious goals for copper production
Zambia’s goal of producing 3 million tons of copper a year by 2031 requires existing assets to double their output to about 1.4 million tons.
Photographer: Zinyange Auntony/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Zambia plans to establish an investment company that will control at least 30% of critical minerals production from future mines.
Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe unveiled a strategy on Thursday that he said will allow Zambia to maximize the benefits from its deposits of metals key to the energy transition. Africa’s second-largest copper producer aims to more than quadruple output of the metal by early in the next decade, but it also has deposits of cobalt, graphite and lithium.