Barrick Gold wants to add more copper to its African portfolio as the metal is a key ingredient in electric cars and crucial to the renewable energy sector.
Barrick already owns the Lumwana copper mine in Zambia, which it acquired through the acquisition of Randgold Resources in 2019.
The business is rumoured to be one of 13 assets Barrick is seeking to sell in a $6bn merger.
After President Hakainde Hichilema won a landslide election victory last year, Zambia changed its mind, promising to boost growth and repair relations with mining companies.
"He is a breath of fresh air," said Mark Bristow, Barrick's chief executive, after meeting Mr Hichilema on Monday. "Zambia is a good story."
Hichilema is part of the Indaba Mining conference in South Africa this week.
While Bristow has often been a vocal critic of the DRC government and its revised mining regulations in 2018, Barrick continues to pursue copper projects in the DRC, where it owns the massive Kibali gold mine.
But Barrick knows the value of exploring the central African copper belt, which straddles the border between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo and has some of the world's richest copper deposits.
"We've tried to invest in gold, and more recently we've tried to invest in copper," says Mr Bristow. "We will find opportunities because the DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo is so blessed."
Last year, Barrick provided $1.4 billion to host Countries in Africa through taxes, royalties and dividends, resulting in an overall economic contribution of $3.3 billion.
Bristow told the Indaba conference that the figures do not capture the full benefits, such as the value created by improving the skills of generations of workers and strengthening the nation's Labour pool.
Barrick hasn't made a major acquisition since buying Randgold Resources, but it has done so. Barrick has bid for Pretium Resources, Kirkland Lake Gold and Great Bear in the past year but declined to enter the bidding war, leaving both companies in the hands of rivals.
Barrick announced in April that it would work with the Pakistani government to proceed with Reko Diq, a large copper and gold project in Pakistan. The company is also considering whether to proceed with the Donlin gold mine in Alaska, which it co-owns with Novagold Resources.
With the $7bn Reko Diq project under construction and the possible $9bn Donlin project under way, Barrick said it was open to a mega-deal if the right deal came along.
