Japanese, Saudi firms listed as favourites to grab minority stake in First Quantum’s Zambia assets

First Quantum Minerals Chief Executive Officer, Tristan Pascall, said the firm would assess “the potential benefits of a minority stake sale in Zambia” as one of the group’s targets for 2025.

According to reports in November, Japan’s Mitsui & Co was in poll position to buy a stake in First Quantum’s Zambian production which consists of the Kansanshi and Sentinel operations.

The Japanese company is considering buying a roughly 20 percent interest in the Sentinel and Kansanshi mines for about US$2 billion, but it may have competition.

Many in the industry see Manara, a joint venture involving Saudi Arabia’s Ma’aden, as the most likely winner.

The potential sale of a stake in the Zambia mines is to restore strength to First Quantum’s balance sheet after it lost production from Cobre Panama at the end of 2023 when the Central America’s government ruled the mine’s operating licence was unconstitutional.

“The government, now under new administration, appears to have a more conciliatory view of Cobre Panama. It is conducting an environmental audit, due in February, aimed at supporting “decision-making about the future of the mine,” Pascall said in a comment in a production update.

FQM’S Zambian assets were First Quantum’s main source of production after it placed nickel producer Ravensthorpe in Australia on care and maintenance last year.

Commenting on production over the next three years, Pascall said it had adjusted Kansanshi’s production lower to account for a more conservative ramp-up from its US$1.25 billion S3 Expansion project.

The mine would increase production to between 210,000 and 240,000 tons in 2027 from a guided range of 160,000 to 190,000 tons this year.

In total, First Quantum is expected to produce 380,000 to 440,000 tons of copper this year, rising to 430,000 to 490,000 tons in 2027.

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