Middle Eastern Tycoons Paid $1.1 Billion For A Stake in Zambia's Mopani Copper Mine

ABU Dhabi's International Resources Holdings LTD (IRH) will invest more than $1 billion in Zambia's Mopani copper mine, Bloomberg reported.
Copper is a metal crucial to the energy transition at a time of growing concern about future supply.
On November 30, the Zambian government announced that IRH has become the new strategic equity partner of the Mopani copper mine. The deal will help Zambia revive the Mopani copper mine. Mopani was previously a large copper and cobalt mine owned by Glencore.
Zambia has chosen IHC of the United Arab Emirates as its new strategic equity partner for the Mopani copper mine
ZCCM Investment Holding Company (ZCCM-IH) said on Friday that IRH will pay $620 million for a 51 percent stake in the Mopani copper mine, with the rest held by the Zambian government. ZCCM-IH is a Zambian state holding company.
In addition, IRH has agreed to lend up to $400 million to its shareholders. ZCCM-IH said it was also in talks with Glencore about restructuring debt owed to it.
The Mopani mine, which dates back to 1929, currently needs about $300 million to complete the project started by Glencore and increase annual production fivefold to 200,000 tonnes.
According to ZCCM-IH, Mopani lost $196 million in the first half of 2023. The company operates two plants in Zambia's Copperbelt province, including mines, a smelter and a refinery.
Previously, ZCCM-IH acquired Glencore's 90% stake in Mopani in 2021 for $1 in cash and $1.5 billion in debt.
Glencore retains the right to take some of the mine's output until the debt is paid off in full. Glencore had clashed with Zambia's previous government over the mine's chronically unprofitable future.