President Hichilema Announces Funding for Mimbula Copper Mines

President Hichilema announced on Wednesday that the future of the Mimbula Minerals’ Copper Mine at Chingola had been secured.

In April 2022, British firm Moxico Resources revealed plans for a $100 million expansion of the Mimbula Minerals Ltd. copper mines as part of the Zambian government’s push to expand export tax revenues and generate employment.

Little had been heard of Moxico’s renewed enthusiasm for the mine since the announcement almost a year ago. While visiting Mimbula’s site as part of his local engagement tour of the Copperbelt province, President Hichilema was glad to confirm that the 900 new jobs generated by Moxico’s investment were safe.

The President also disclosed that the government had incentivised partnerships between the mine and local suppliers, and that these co-operatives would be part of the drive to increase the mine’s extraction rate from 10,000 to 56,000 tonnes yearly.

While addressing Chingola residents, Mr. Hichilema also said that the government and Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe were working on deals to finalise investment in Mopani Mines and Konkola Copper Mines (KCM). Updating those present, Mr. Hichilema said that Mr. Kabuswe had secured the necessary funding for Mopani, and that there would soon be news on both Mopani and KCM. Meetings on Konkola, the President said, were to begin on Thursday 16 March.

The Mimbula Copper Project is on the outskirts of Chingola town, and mines a deposit rich in copper oxide and sulphide. Mimbula Minerals is the Zambian subsidiary of Moxico Resources, and was founded specifically to mine the Mimbula deposit.

Moxico currently owns an 85% stake in Mimbula Ltd., the other 15% being owned by local Zambian businesses. Their mining license was granted in 2017 and is valid for 25 years. Mimbula produced their first copper cathode from the mine’s ores in 2020, and has continued to refine at the Konkola tailings leach plant.

Mining at the Mimbula site ceased in the 1970s. in 2011, the Zambia branch of Vedanta Resources bought KCM and immediately began to make enquiries into the revival of the Mimbula mining complex.

Vedanta Mines sought to dissolve KCM in 2022; Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe directed Zambia’s state mining investment firm KCCM-IH to reach an out-of-court solution, which they achieved. Since then, the Zambian Mines Ministry has been seeking new investors for KCM’s four sites at Chingola, Chililabombwe, Nampundwe and Kitwe.

KCM is the largest mining operation in Zambia, and since the Vedanta settlement has been government-managed. Zambia has 6% of the world’s copper reserves, ranking 7th in the world and 2nd in Africa, and copper currently represents 80% of the nation’s export earnings. In December 2022, President Hichilema announced the $150 million backing of KoBold Metals as part of UPND’s 10-year plan to revamp Zambia’s copper facilities and boost copper production from 850,000 tonnes to 3 million tonnes annually by 2032.  

Zambia’s plans to become a global copper powerhouse look more promising than ever – and the mines’ potential is moving from theoretical to actual.