Indian mining firm Vedanta Resources on Sunday unveiled a slew of projects to enable Zambia's largest mine to nearly treble copper production to six million tonnes a year, an official said.
The projects will allow the Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), in which Vedanta holds a 51 percent stake, to raise output from 2.4 million tonnes to six million tonnes thus extending its lifespan to 2035, KCM chairman Navin Agarwal said.
"The total investment in these projects is 750 million dollars (599 million euros). This is the single largest investment in Zambia to date," Agarwal said.
He said KCM had awarded contracts to several international firms to develop the untapped Konkola Deep Mining Project (KDMP), as well as construct a new smelter and acid plant which will be completed in 2009.
The new smelter plant will produce 250,000 tonnes of copper while an acid plant will manufacture 1,700 tonnes of acid per day, Agarwal said.
"KCM will have created the capacity within Zambia to treat all the copper concentrate that will be produced by other stand alone copper mines, thereby enabling the country to export value added finished copper rather than exporting raw material concentrate," Agarwal said in a statement.