Foreign news on June 26, it is reported that Zambia's state-owned ZCCM Investment Holdings confirmed on Monday, China's Zijin Mining and Sibanye Stillwater are among the candidates to buy Mopani Copper Mines.
Reuters reported on June 20, citing sources, that the list included those companies, China's Norinco Group and an investment firm owned by former Glencore executives.
ZCCM-IH chief Executive Ndoba Vibetti told Reuters at a mining conference in London that the search for a new investor for Mopani would likely be completed in the next two months. Vibetti said the mine needs at least $1 billion in funding over the next five to six years.
Attracting new investors to Mopani is part of the government's plan to triple copper output in Africa's second-largest producer over the next decade.
Vibetti said the Mopani mine and smelter currently needed about $200 million to $300 million in short-term financing to stay viable, adding that the search for new investors took a long time because they needed a suitable company to buy Mopani.
"Part of the reason it took so long was to get the packaging right," Vibetti said. "Someone can come in and take it out of the water and then be able to make a long-term investment."
Switzerland-based commodities giant Glencore sold a 73 percent stake in Mopani to ZCCM-IH in 2021 for $1.5 billion, a deal financed by debt, but Glencore retained an offtake right on Mopani's copper production until the debt was repaid in full.
