Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) is advancing a US$498 million tailings-reprocessing project at Nchanga in Zambia after receiving shareholder approval from ZCCM Investments Holdings (ZCCM-IH). The proposed plant is designed to produce approximately 70,000 tonnes of copper cathode annually by recovering metal from historical mine tailings rather than developing a new mining operation.
The approval allows KCM to progress the Nchanga Tailings Leach Plant under an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with China NERIN. Construction and commissioning are expected to take approximately 24 months. The development is based on an estimated 546 million tonnes of historical tailings grading 0.54% copper. The material has already been mined and deposited at surface, providing the feedstock for a large-scale secondary copper recovery operation.
Processing Capacity and Copper Recovery
The plant is designed to process approximately 17.7 million tonnes of tailings per year using leaching, solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) technology. Project studies indicate potential copper recovery of approximately 74%, with the finished product intended to meet London Metal Exchange Grade A copper cathode specifications. At its planned operating capacity, the facility would produce around 70,000 tonnes of copper annually, representing a substantial addition to KCM’s output and a major brownfield development for Zambia’s copper industry.
Financing and Shareholder Responsibilities
KCM intends to finance its equity contribution through internally generated cash. No capital contribution is required from ZCCM-IH, leaving the state-linked shareholder without a direct funding obligation for the project’s equity component. The funding arrangement places responsibility for executing the development and meeting its financing requirements on KCM. Following the shareholder approval, the project must progress through EPC mobilisation and financing execution before construction can advance according to schedule.
Tailings Reprocessing and Operational Requirements
Unlike a conventional mine development, the Nchanga project will recover copper from material already extracted and deposited at the surface. This removes the need for new underground or open-pit mining of the feedstock, while making the project’s performance dependent on metallurgical recovery and processing efficiency.
Key operating considerations include reagent consumption, water management, consistent tailings feed and copper recovery rates. Achieving the targeted output will depend on the plant’s ability to process the planned tonnage and sustain the recovery performance indicated by project studies. The project’s next stages include EPC mobilisation, execution of financing arrangements and delivery of the construction and commissioning programme within the expected 24-month period.
