Government Approves Exploration for Ivanhoe Copper Mine

The Government has granted over 7,500 square kilometres in new exploration licenses to Ivanhoe Mines, a Canadian company, in North-Western Province. It is hoped that this will facilitate an extension of the Central African Copperbelt.

This new license package has already been subject to a high-resolution airborne geophysics survey conducted by the Geological Survey Department, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Mines of Mineral Development, and is strategically located between two other exploration projects that Ivanhoe is overseeing, meaning that it displays promising prospects.

Ivanhoe is a big player in the region; it currently operates the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is the fastest-growing copper mine in the world, as well as the Western Forelands Exploration Project, also in the DRC. This license is Ivanhoe’s first in Zambia, and it represents a significant investment; it covers an area three times larger than the aforementioned Western Forelands license.

Ivanhoe founder Robert Friedland was keen to emphasise that Zambia is an attractive destination for investment: “we are particularly encouraged by the proactive support and collaborative approach demonstrated by the Zambian government, underscoring the country’s commitment to fostering a stable and investor-friendly mining environment. This includes a key role of partnership that Zambia is playing in terms of improving the regional hydroelectric power supply and distribution – where the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex is already a major importer of power via the Zambia interconnector”, he said.

This constitutes an encouraging case of cooperation between the government and the private sector, which will hopefully result in significant economic growth and employment opportunities in North-Western Province. Exploration activities are expected to commence immediately.