Tailings Reprocessing To Contribute To Zambia Copper Growth
Konkola Copper Mines Plc (KCM) announced it had awarded Chinese mining and chemicals contractor Nerin Engineering an EPC contract to build a tailings leach plant with capacity to produce 70,000 tonnes of copper per year at its Chingola operations in Zambia.
The award of the contract to the China-based Nerin Engineering underpins how Nerin has established itself as an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management (EPCM) partner for non-ferrous projects, and copper projects outside China, and has gained increasing recognition from non-Chinese mining customers.
Its latest appointment in Zambia reflects its growing familiarity with delivering projects in a variety of operating locations.
Mr. Satish Kumar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, KCM said “With Vedanta’s renewed investment and commitment, and the rich engineering implementation capabilities of our partner China NERIN, this project marks a major milestone in our growth journey and empowers green and sustainable development for Zambia's mining industry and local economy.”
The contract, announced September 17, covers the construction of a tailings leach plant. The plant will use wet-leaching technology to recover copper from existing tailings generated by previous mining and processing activities. KCM said the facility would be Africa's largest tailings leach plant once completed. The project will operate alongside KCM's existing tailings leach facilities at its Nchanga operations.
The scope of Nerin Engineering’s services include the provision of engineering, procurement, construction and installation services for the project, alongside commissioning support, performance testing and workforce training.
Tailings Dam investment part of wider expansion
Alongside the tailings leach project, KCM's majority owner CopperTech announced that it was planning to increase production capacity at KCM's assets from 80,000 tonnes in 2025 to 300,000 tonnes by 2031.
The majority of this capacity expansion will be driven by a planned underground project, Konkola Deep, located close to the current open pit mining complex.
No decision has yet been taken on the mining project.
The projects sit within CopperTech's Zambia copper production expansion plans. In June 2025, CopperTech announced that the company would list on the New York Stock Exchange via an Initial Public Offering (IPO). CopperTech is majority owned by Vedanta Corporation, India's largest diversified mining company.
Zambia Copper Expansion Plans
Zambia itself has ambitious plans to expand its copper production from 890,000 tonnes in 2025 to 3m tonnes in 2031.
Barrick Mining’s Lumwana Mine is undergoing a US$2bn ‘Super Pit Expansion Project’ which aims to double its copper production to 240,000 tonnes a year.
In addition to Barrick, other companies including First Quantum Minerals are investigating capacity expansions.
- The Konkola Complex is one of the region’s longest-operating underground copper mines and has been in production since the late 1950s.
- Konkola has developed into a deep, shaft-accessed mining system with active workings established at approximately 1,000 meters below the surface.
- The orebody extends vertically, with mineralization continuing beyond 2,000 meters.
- CopperTech is conducting a high resolution 3-D Seismic survey with partners to generate high-resolution 3-D OBK (Ore Body Knowledge) models.
- KCM is also restarting production at brownfield locations: it restarted operations at the Chingola B Mine in May within the Nchanga mining complex after nearly two decades of inactivity.
Nerin Engineering's key business partners:
BHP
Nerin has recently expanded its relationship with BHP. In July, Nerin Engineering signed a USD166.5m agreement with BHP to deliver key processing facilities for copper smelter and refinery expansions as part of its Olympic Dam's expansion to 500,000 tonnes a year.
Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto contracted Nerin to deliver a double flash upgrade at its Kennecott Utah Copper Smelter in 2020. This was the first time Chinese copper smelting technology and equipment was exported to North America. Kennecott had been the first smelter in the world to adopt flash smelting and flash converting (double flash). and was also the benchmark when China decided to introduce the “double flash” technology.
Kamoa-Kakula
Nerin was awarded the EPC contract to deliver a 500,000 tonnes per year copper smelter in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for Kamoa-Kakula. The project, which uses the Direct to Blister process, began production ramp up in December 2025. The Kamoa-Kakula Copper Mine is owned by Kamoa Holding, an Ivanhoe Zijin subsidiary. Canadian mining company Ivanhoe owns a 49.5% share interest in Kamoa Holding.
