Vedanta shifts copper mines to US entity to tap Trump mining push

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Vedanta Resources is transferring its key Zambian copper mine to a US-based entity as it seeks to benefit from the Trump administration’s push to bolster the domestic mining sector.

The group, owned by Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal, said on Thursday that its new US-domiciled subsidiary, CopperTech Metals, would own and operate the Konkola Copper Mines in the southern African nation’s copper belt.

Vedanta plans to raise $1.5bn, which will cover the company’s commitment to invest $1bn to revive KCM under a deal it made in 2023 to regain control of the mine after Zambia’s government seized it in 2019.

The creation of CopperTech Metals comes as companies look to capitalise on renewed US government support for the mining sector, which is also attracting increased investor interest.

Tom Albanese, former chief executive of Vedanta and a strategic adviser to CopperTech, told the Financial Times that the move was designed to win US interest, to help with financing and to develop relationships with consumers.

“These are pretty good markets right now . . . I’ve never seen anything like this, the shift in sentiment in the US towards having better control of our destiny,” the US-born Albanese said.

“All options” were on the table for funding the $1.5bn, including a possible public listing of the new company, he added.

The money will be invested in developing the Konkola complex, with the aim of more than doubling copper production from an estimated 140,000 tonnes in 2026 to 300,000 by 2031.

Vedanta and the Zambian government, which holds a 21 per cent stake in Konkola through ZCCM Investments, are keen to boost production. Copper prices hit an all-time high last week, while increased sales would also help Zambia, which defaulted on hard currency loans in 2020, to cut its debt.

Demand for the industrial metal, which is used in sectors from construction to electric vehicles, is set to increase due to electrification efforts and the building of the data centres that power artificial intelligence. 

The Konkola complex became the focus of a lengthy dispute between Vedanta and the Zambian government in 2019, with the conglomerate losing control of KCM after the administration of then president Edgar Lungu accused it of a lack of investment.

Vedanta launched a legal battle to gain back control of the complex, and in late 2023 struck a deal with the government, led by the current president, Hakainde Hichilema, in which it pledged to invest $1bn in exchange for regaining control.

Most of Konkola’s copper currently goes to buyers in Asia, but the planned growth in production could allow more to go into the US, Albanese said. 

Konkola does not have funding from the American government or a commitment to buy from it, though the US Development Finance Corporation has sought to steer Zambia’s copper towards American markets with a $550mn loan to renovate a railway route to a port in Angola.

Additional reporting by Joseph Cotterill