Zambia's ZCCM-IH moves to raise stakes in Lubambe copper and KoBold's Mingomba project
The state investment vehicle wants bigger minority holdings in strategic mines, having already lifted its Lubambe stake to 30%
ZCCM Investments Holdings, Zambia's state-controlled mining investment vehicle, said in mid-May 2026 that it was pursuing higher ownership stakes across several of the country's most strategic copper projects, including KoBold Metals' Mingomba deposit and the existing Lubambe Copper Mines. Chief executive Kakenenwa Muyangwa said ZCCM-IH was working to raise its Mingomba holding to 25% from 20%, and had already increased its stake in Lubambe to 30% from 20% the previous year, after Australian investor EMR Capital exited its majority shareholding in 2024 by selling to China's JCHX Mining.
A deliberate ownership strategy
Muyangwa described the approach as a gradual move toward higher ownership on commercial terms rather than forced nationalisation, arguing that a larger minority stake gives the state more influence over how mines are run than a token holding does. ZCCM-IH currently holds interests as low as 10% in several major Zambian mines operated by companies including China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group, Canada's First Quantum Minerals and India's Vedanta Resources, giving it room to selectively increase its exposure to the assets it considers most strategically important.
New ventures alongside bigger stakes
Beyond raising existing stakes, ZCCM-IH has also been creating new joint ventures, incorporating Kyalo Goldfields Limited in May 2026 to develop gold resources in the Kikonge area of Mufumbwe District, in which it holds 51% against a 49% stake for partner Mining Mineral Resources SAS, following a memorandum of understanding signed in December 2025. The company has also diversified into renewable energy, buying a 35% stake in Maamba Solar Energy for $9.45m.
Why it matters for Zambia's copper ambitions
ZCCM-IH's push for larger stakes comes as Zambia works to lift national copper output significantly over the rest of the decade, with Mingomba, KoBold Metals' AI-assisted copper discovery, seen as one of the country's most promising new sources of future production. A bigger state stake in projects like Mingomba gives Zambia more direct financial exposure to that growth, while the gradual, negotiated approach ZCCM-IH has taken so far has avoided the investor unease that more abrupt nationalisation moves elsewhere on the continent have triggered.
The gradual approach taken by ZCCM-IH contrasts with more abrupt state intervention seen in some neighbouring jurisdictions, and Zambian officials have pointed to the negotiated, commercial-terms nature of the stake increases as evidence that the country can grow its mining ownership without deterring the foreign capital its copper expansion targets still depend on.
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