Zambia's copper output may increase to 1m tonnes

Zambia's copper output could rise to about one million tonnes by 2026, boosted by investment in expanding production at mines including those owned by First Quantum Minerals, finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said on Friday.

Production of copper, key to Zambia's economic growth, has been gradually declining in Africa's second-largest producer of the metal - even as the government targets lifting output to about three million tonnes within the decade.

Copper output slumped to 698 000 tonnes in 2023 from 763 000 tonnes the previous year, data from the Zambia Chamber of Mines showed.

Production could also get a boost from Mopani Copper Mines, which recently secured a new investor, and the revival of Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) after the state resolved an ownership dispute with Indian miner Vedanta Resources.

"The two mining giants (Mopani and KCM) were out of the equation, now they are back," Musokotwane said on Lusaka-based radio station Radio Phoenix.

Zambia is also hoping that fresh investment helps increase mining activities at KCM after operations were nearly paralysed following an ownership dispute with Vedanta that had dragged on since 2019, when the then government attempted to seize the assets.

"So by end of 2025 to 2026, we will be producing more than a million tonnes of copper," the finance minister said.