Vedanta hires Chinese firm for $498 million copper plant

Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), a subsidiary of billionaire Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Resources, has officially signed a landmark $498 million contract with China NERIN Engineering to construct a massive copper recovery plant in the Zambian Copperbelt town of Chingola. Set to become the largest copper-waste recovery facility of its kind on the African continent, the project represents a major milestone in Vedanta's aggressive capital expenditure program following its return to full operational control in the country. The ambitious project will utilize advanced leaching technology to process existing mine tailings—the industrial waste left over from decades of historic ore processing. According to project specifications, the facility is engineered to yield an additional 70,000 metric tons of refined copper per annum. By extracting high-value metal from previously discarded material, KCM not only maximizes resource efficiency but also mitigates environmental liabilities associated with traditional tailing dumps in the region. This capital injection arrives as a critical boost to the Zambian government’s overarching macroeconomic strategy. Lusaka has laid out an aggressive national roadmap to escalate domestic copper production from historical baselines toward a targeted three million metric tons annually by the early 2030s. With global demand surging for critical transition minerals required in electric vehicles, renewable energy grids, and advanced data infrastructure, projects that fast-track production from alternative sources are vital for positioning Zambia as a premier global supplier. Under the terms of the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) agreement, China NERIN will shoulder the technical delivery of the plant, encompassing everything from initial design and procurement to commissioning, rigorous performance testing, and localized technical training. This partnership bridges Indian corporate leadership with Chinese technical engineering prowess, re