By 
Zambia has set an ambitious copper target. At Konkola Copper Mines, the shift from stabilising an operation to expanding one is already under way.
President Hakainde Hichilema opened his second term with a number that will shape the next five years of Zambia’s mining industry: three million tonnes of copper, one of eight targets set out in the GROW ZAMBIA agenda.
It is a demanding figure. Reaching it will require the country’s major mining operations to lift production substantially, and to do so in a way that carries the wider economy along with them.
Konkola Copper Mines intends to be part of that answer.
Read more: Industry Review: From recovery to record growth — How KCM reignited Zambia’s copper giant
Since Vedanta Resources resumed stewardship of KCM in July 2024, the company has moved through a distinct phase. What began as a task of stabilising the operation has become one of expanding it. That change mirrors the direction the President has set for the country as a whole.
As the President put it in his address, economic growth has to mean something at the dinner table. For KCM, meeting the national copper target is the first step toward making that promise real.
Growth of this kind cannot come from existing pits alone. It requires new exploration, new ground and, just as importantly, the support of the communities who hold that ground.
In Shibuyunji District, His Royal Highness Senior Chief Shakumbila of the Sala-Ila people has welcomed KCM’s partnership with the Chiefdom and encouraged the company to expand its mineral exploration activities within it.
“We are willing to support you in anything you need to expand your operations in this Chiefdom. If you are looking for copper, I am here to sign all the required consents. We are with you because KCM has been a true friend to us,” said Chief Shakumbila.
The Chief added that the Chiefdom values its longstanding relationship with the company and remains committed to creating an enabling environment for continued growth and investment in the district.
That kind of endorsement matters well beyond courtesy. It is one of the practical conditions that make a national target geologically possible. Every new area opened for exploration, every consent signed and every partnership renewed brings the three million tonne goal a step closer.
For KCM, the message from government and from traditional leadership points in the same direction. Zambia has set the target. The company’s task now is to keep proving, tonne by tonne and partnership by partnership, that it can help deliver it.
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