Zambia's largest copper deposits discovered in Mingomba

The discovery was announced at the ongoing African Mining Indaba in Cape Town by the co-founder of KoBold Metals Josh Goldman.

KoBold Metals, a pioneering exploration company based in California backed by billionaires including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos in joint partnership with the Zambia government made the discovery.

"Mingomba will be one of the world's biggest high-grade large copper mines. It is Kakula scale in size and grade. And the core of it is >5% copper," Goldman said in a statement shared by KoBold Metals social media account on X.

Goldman said the $2 billion mine project will be constructed at its Mingomba project faster and ahead of schedule compared to the initial ten-year projection. The decision to fast-track the project is intended to meet the fast-growing demand for the critical metals and will commence as early as 2027, local media Lusaka Times reported.

“And what they discovered is quite phenomenal. There’s a lot that we as Zambians can look forward to in terms of the announcement of the mine development which should be coming on stream. Their CEO has confirmed that that is something that will come to fruition,” special assistant to the Zambian president on economic, investment and development affairs Jito Kayumba said in a video posted on social media site X on February 5.

Zambia is Africa’s second-largest copper producer, following the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The discovery comes at a time when there’s a global transition to clean energy and electric batteries, prompting the United States and other developed nations to seek alternative sources of copper, cobalt, lithium, and nickel all of which are abundant in Zambia.

President Hichilema, in his end-of-year press conference, had previously announced the discovery of large lithium deposits in Southern Province.