LUSAKA, Sept 18 – Vedanta’s Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has signed a $498 million agreement with China’s NERIN Engineering to develop a copper recovery plant in Zambia that will extract metal from existing mine tailings and add 70,000 metric tons to annual output.
The facility will be constructed at KCM’s operations in Chingola in Zambia’s Copperbelt and will use leaching technology to recover copper from mine waste. KCM said the project is expected to become the largest plant of its kind in Africa.
The investment forms part of KCM’s broader expansion programme and comes as Zambia seeks to significantly increase its copper production. The country produced 890,346 metric tons of copper in 2025 and has set an ambition to reach annual output of 3 million metric tons by 2031.
Under the agreement, NERIN Engineering will undertake engineering, procurement and construction work for the facility. The Chinese engineering company will also support commissioning and performance testing and provide training as the plant moves toward operations.
The project will allow KCM to extract additional copper from material that has already been generated through mining, providing a way to increase production while making greater use of existing mine waste.
Copper demand is expected to strengthen as investment in electricity networks, renewable energy systems, data centres and electric vehicles expands. The metal is a key input across these industries because of its electrical conductivity and role in energy infrastructure.
Zambia is Africa’s second-largest copper producer after the Democratic Republic of Congo. The DRC remains the continent’s leading producer, although its copper exports declined by almost 15% in the first quarter.
The KCM investment adds to Zambia’s efforts to expand copper production and strengthen the role of the mining sector in the country’s industrial and export economy.
