Zambia’s state mining investor ZCCM-IH, which holds 20.6% of Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), has approved a $498 million plant to recover copper from tailings at Nchanga in Chingola, it said on 7 October. The plant, to be built by China NERIN Engineering over about two years, should produce about 70,000 tonnes a year of high-grade copper cathode. KCM, controlled by India’s Vedanta, will fund it from its own resources. The project would add output from old mine waste without new digging, supporting Zambia’s plan to raise copper production while prices are high, and it extends Chinese contractors’ role in the Copperbelt.
Sources
- Lusaka Times: https://www.lusakatimes.com/2026/10/07/zccm-ih-approves-new-kcm-tailings-leach-plant-in-chingola/
- Engineering News: https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/zccm-ih-gives-its-approval-for-498m-tailings-leach-plant-at-kcm-in-zambia-2026-10-07
- Zambia Monitor: https://www.zambiamonitor.com/zccm-ih-approves-498-million-kcm-tailings-plant/