A mining start-up backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos says it has discovered a vast copper deposit in Zambia, offering a potential boost to the west’s efforts to cut its reliance on China for metals that are vital to decarbonise everything from cars to power transmission systems.
KoBold Metals said on Monday that it had found Zambia’s largest copper deposit in a century, estimating that the Mingomba site in the northern Copperbelt province will become one of the world’s top three high-grade copper mines.
The discovery comes as the US government embarks on a charm offensive and infrastructure push in Africa in an effort to compete with China’s control over minerals that are critical for defence, renewable power and electric vehicles. The US government is backing the development of the Lobito railway, a line to transport metals in the region connecting the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to the Lobito port in Angola.