ZCCM Investments Holdings Plc (ZCCM-IH) has approved a US$498-million Tailings Leach Plant at Konkola Copper Mines (KCM)’s Nchanga operation in Chingola, clearing the way for KCM to proceed with a project expected to become Africa’s largest facility of its kind and produce approximately 70,000 tonnes of LME Grade A copper cathode annually at full capacity.

The approval follows KCM’s signing of a US$498-million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreement with China NERIN Engineering Company Limited on 17 September 2026, under which the Chinese contractor will deliver the plant on a turnkey basis, including commissioning, performance testing and training.

The plant will reprocess an estimated 546 million tonnes of historical tailings from the TD5 dam at Nchanga, containing an average copper grade of 0.54 per cent. It will use solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) technology, with studies indicating a commercial copper recovery rate of approximately 74 per cent. The facility will process about 53,500 tonnes of tailings per day — equivalent to roughly 17.7 million tonnes annually.

Construction is expected to take 24 months, with production projected to reach full capacity from the fourth year of operation.

ZCCM-IH Corporate Affairs Manager Loisa Mbatha said the project will be fully funded by KCM and will not require any capital contribution from ZCCM-IH, which holds a 20.6 per cent equity stake in KCM. KCM’s equity contribution will be financed from internally generated resources, and the project falls outside Vedanta Resources’ initial US$1-billion investment programme for KCM.

KCM is 79.4 per cent owned by Vedanta Resources, with ZCCM-IH holding the remaining 20.6 per cent.

ZCCM-IH Chief Executive Officer Kakenenwa Muyangwa described Nchanga’s tailings as one of the largest secondary copper resources in Africa. “Using the latest technology, this plant turns them into around 70,000 tonnes of LME Grade A cathode a year without mining a single new tonne of ore,” Muyangwa said. “It is exactly the growth we want across our portfolio. It means more copper from assets that already exist, in support of Zambia’s path to 3 million tonnes and the Grow Zambia agenda”.

The project is expected to contribute to Zambia’s target of producing three million tonnes of copper annually by 2031, up from approximately 890,346 tonnes in 2025, and support KCM’s ambition of increasing annual copper production to 300,000 tonnes.

It is also expected to generate additional export earnings for Zambia.

The approval follows a period of renewed investment in KCM after Vedanta regained control of the asset in 2024 following a prolonged dispute with the Zambian government. Vedanta has pledged more than US$1 billion for the operation, including development of the Konkola Deep Mining Project, as part of efforts to revive the mine and expand national copper output.