{"id":28328,"date":"2026-03-11T07:23:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T05:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=28328"},"modified":"2026-03-11T07:23:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T05:23:53","slug":"zambia-seeking-global-investors-to-help-triple-copper-output-by-2031","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/zambia-seeking-global-investors-to-help-triple-copper-output-by-2031\/","title":{"rendered":"Zambia seeking global investors to help triple copper output by 2031"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Zambia is courting global investors, including from the \u200cUnited States (US), as it aims to more than triple its copper output to 3 million metric tons by 2031, its mines minister said on Tuesday.<\/div>\n<div>\nAfrica&#8217;s second-largest copper producer after Democratic Republic \u200bof Congo is seen as one of the countries Washington is keen \u200bto partner with as the US escalates efforts to loosen China&#8217;s \u2060grip on materials crucial to advanced manufacturing.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Zambia produced 890 346 tons of copper \u200blast year, missing an annual target of one million tons. The red metal is \u200ba key material in electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure vital for the transition to a low-carbon economy.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Zambian Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe said investment talks extend to various countries as part \u200bof a broader strategy to meet the 2031 target.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;The US is part of \u200bit,&#8221; he said, without providing details of specific discussions.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Negotiations between Lusaka and Washington are also underway \u200cfor \u2060a more than $1 billion health aid deal that health advocates have warned links the money to mining access and has data-sharing risks.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;There is nothing linked to anything,&#8221; Kabuswe told<i>\u00a0Reuters <\/i>when asked whether \u200bUS health funding \u200bwill be linked \u2060to mining collaboration, adding: &#8220;Zambia is very mindful when seated on the table to do negotiations over any matter.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Kabuswe emphasized the \u200bimportance of fair deals, adding that &#8220;investors must also take their share&#8221;. &#8220;It \u200bhas \u2060to be a win-win situation for Zambia and for the investors,&#8221; he said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>In addition to copper, Zambia is also rich in cobalt, nickel, manganese, graphite, lithium and rare-earth elements.<\/div>\n<div>Mining \u2060firms \u200boperating in Zambia include China&#8217;s JCHX Mining , Canada&#8217;s \u200bBarrick Gold\u00a0 and First Quantum Minerals, India&#8217;s Vedanta Resources, United Arab Emirates&#8217; International Resources Holding and KoBold \u200bMetals, which is backed by US investors.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":28329,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-28328","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Zambia is also rich in cobalt, nickel, manganese, graphite, lithium and rare-earth elements.","published_date":"","news_description":"Zambia is also rich in cobalt, nickel, manganese, graphite, lithium and rare-earth elements.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28330,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28328\/revisions\/28330"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=28328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}