Vedanta is close to regaining control of Zambia's Konkola copper mine and plans to quickly increase production to meet a surge in demand in the coming years. Chris Griffiths, head of Vedanta's base metals division, said in an interview in London that billionaire Anil Agarwal's company is ready to pay $250 million to settle debts owed by the mine to regain access to the asset again. Konkola was put into provisional liquidation in 2019 after the previous government accused its owners of lying about expansion plans and paying too little tax.

"We think we are now just a few weeks away from getting this asset back," Griffiths said. "One of the world's most important copper mines will be back when the world needs copper."

But before Vedanta can return to Konkola, a Zambian court needs to approve the creditor-backed deal, and if approved, Vedanta will need to release $250 million to repay some of the debts accumulated since the appointment of liquidators. Outstanding debts to suppliers will be paid when the project becomes profitable."The money is ready to flow in," Griffith said, adding that it was too early to specify how his company would raise the money. In April 2024, Vedanta reportedly discussed fee-and-advance payment arrangements with commodity traders such as Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. to meet upfront capital needs.

Vedanta and the current government resolved the impasse in September when the company agreed to pay about $1.3 billion for the asset, which produces more than 300,000 tons of the metal annually. In addition to repaying debt, Agarwal's company has pledged to invest $1 billion over five years to complete the expansion project.

The company is considering selling a minority stake in Konkola to finance the development project. Griffith said International Resources Holdings, the mining subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's largest listed company, which recently acquired another large Zambian copper project, is one of the companies in talks to buy a stake.

The Konkola plant, which processes ore mined from the mine as well as ore supplied by third parties, saw copper production fall to less than 40,000 tons last year. Vedanta aims to increase copper production to 250,000 tons in the next few years, with about 40% coming from its own ore. He said the long-term goal for the next decade is to produce copper entirely from its own reserves.

The flagship mine, the Konkola Deep Shaft, stretches nearly a mile deep. It is one of the wettest mines in the world and requires the equivalent of 140 Olympic swimming pools of water to be pumped to the surface every day to operate properly.

China's cooperation with Zambia in the mining industry dates back to 1998. At that time, China Nonferrous Metals Group successfully bid for the operating rights of the Chambishi Copper Mine and reached a joint venture agreement with the Zambian government. In the following 20 years, China has successively restored and built three ore bodies with a total investment of up to $1.17 billion. This copper mine, once ridiculed by Western media as a loss-making business, has transformed into the first digital mine on the African continent under the careful management of Chinese investors, achieving $2.2 billion in revenue, creating the best performance since the investment.Looking to the future, with the advancement of the great strategy of the Belt and Road Initiative, the prospects for cooperation between China and Zambia in the mining sector remain broad. On the one hand, Chinese companies such as China Nonferrous Metals Group have established a good image and performance in Zambia, laying a solid foundation for further cooperation between the two countries. On the other hand, Zambia has rich mineral resources, while China has advanced mining technology and huge market demand. The cooperation between the two sides can achieve complementary advantages, jointly develop resources and promote economic development.

In addition, the first overseas economic and trade cooperation zone invested by China in Zambia, the Zambia-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, has attracted nearly 100 companies to settle down, with an investment of more than US$2.5 billion, creating a large number of jobs for the local area and promoting the in-depth development of economic and trade cooperation between the two sides. This also shows that the cooperation between China and Zambia in the economic field has reached a new level, and there is still a lot of room for development and potential in the future.Editor/Zhao E