Zambia’s ZCCM Funding Holdings stated on Friday that Vedanta’s deliberate IPO of its copper unit may velocity up their collectively owned firm’s $2.7-billion growth challenge.
Vedanta is making ready the US itemizing of CopperTech Metals, a US-domiciled built-in copper and cobalt producer, which can function its 79%-owned Konkola Copper Mines in Zambia’s copperbelt province. ZCCM owns the stability of the shareholding.
Zambia, Africa’s No.2 copper producer, plans to boost output to three million metric tons by 2031, from 890,346 tons final 12 months, because it seeks to capitalise on rising copper demand, pushed by the worldwide shift to renewable power.
Vedanta regained management of Konkola in 2023, after the asset was seized by Zambia’s earlier administration of former president Edgar Lungu in 2019.
The corporate’s Konkola Deep Mine Programme (KDMP) challenge seeks to boost Konkola’s copper output to 300,000 tons by 2031, from 80,215 tons final 12 months.
ZCCM board chairperson Phesto Musonda advised buyers {that a} itemizing ought to reduce the challenge’s ramp-up time by three years.
“The dedication by Vedanta was that they’d spend $1.1-billion on the KDMP within the subsequent 5 years, however with the itemizing now, we now have adjusted the timeline,” Musonda stated throughout ZCCM’s capital markets day hosted in Paris.
“We’re saying, this money is out there now, the funding we now have introduced it to 2028. We will have the KDMP improvement method earlier than the 5 years,” he added.
Vedanta didn’t reply to a request for remark.
The growth challenge contains certainly one of Zambia’s deepest shafts, reaching 1 500 metres, to entry high-grade ores, in addition to dewatering and processing infrastructure.
ZCCM, which is listed on the Lusaka, London and Euronext inventory exchanges, stated it was contemplating a inventory buy-back to shore up its share value, which it says is considerably undervalued on the European bourses.
