KoBold Metals , an innovative mining company using artificial intelligence to explore key materials in the green energy transition, has identified a copper deposit in Zambia .
The potential of the copper deposit in Zambia
The company, based in the San Francisco Bay Area and backed by notable investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, T. Rowe Price Group Inc, Bond Capital, Andreesen Horowitz and Equinor, has been drilling on its concession in Zambia for a little over one year. KoBold president Josh Goldman describes the potential of the deposit at Mingomba as “exceptional”, comparing it to the successful Kakula mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which produced almost 400,000 tonnes of copper last year.
” The story of Mingomba is that it is like Kakula, both in size and grade ,” Goldman said in an interview ahead of the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town. ” It is going to be one of the largest underground mines with the highest grade .”
Although KoBold Metals aims to start its first production early in the next decade, it has not yet released an updated resource estimate or completed the feasibility studies that will determine the decision to build a facility, estimated at around US$2 billion. according to Goldman.
The company uses artificial intelligence technology to analyze drilling data and optimize copper and cobalt exploration at Mingomba. KoBold is focused on the projected long-term shortages of materials such as cobalt, nickel and lithium and is not affected by the low prices currently affecting some metal battery projects around the world.
” We capitalized the company to be able to make long-term investments ,” says Goldman. ” We care enormously what the price of these raw materials is in 2035 and we don’t care what it is in 2024. “
It should be noted that mining companies have warned of imminent copper deficits, driven by growing demand for the metal in wind farms, solar installations, high-voltage cables and electric vehicles. This green revolution has intensified competition for scarce resources and the United States is making up ground after Chinese companies long dominated mining investment in Africa.
The KoBold Metals project
Mingomba stands out as the most advanced project in KoBold’s portfolio, although the company is also exploring more than 60 additional areas, with a significant focus on Australia, Canada and the United States. In December, the company announced the discovery of several potential lithium deposits in locations including Namibia, Quebec and Nevada.
KoBold invested around $100 million in exploration last year and expects to exceed that amount by 2024, with allocations on the “same scale as majors” such as BHP Group and Rio Tinto, according to Josh Goldman, president of the company. company.
The potential development of Mingomba could help the Government of Zambia, Africa’s second-largest copper producer, reverse years of decline and move toward its goal of tripling production within a decade.
It is estimated that the mine could add more than half a million tonnes of production capacity, according to Jito Kayumba, senior adviser to Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema on economic, financial, investment and development matters. Kayumba highlighted that this development represents a critical turning point for Zambia and makes the goal of reaching 3 million metric tons more achievable.
It is important to note that Michael Bloomberg, majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, is an investor in Breakthrough, according to information available on the company’s website.
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