Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has appointed Brenda Tambatamba as Minister of Mines and Minerals Development, placing a former mining industry executive in charge of the country's efforts to expand copper production.
Unicorn Mineral Resources has appointed Patrick Doherty as executive chairperson and added Graeme Fawcett and Kevin Warrington to its board as the company prepares to advance the Klein Aub copper project in Namibia.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has appointed Kompay Koko Ngiemi as interim director general of its artisanal mining agency while the government tightens controls over mineral production and trading in the country's copper-cobalt region.
Marula Mining has completed due diligence on nine prospecting licences in Tanzania, moving closer to a proposed acquisition that would give it a 95% economic interest in a 170-square-kilometre exploration portfolio near its Kinusi Copper Mine.
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have detained around 300 Chinese nationals in a crackdown on suspected illegal mining in the country’s copper belt, with most of the detentions reported in Kolwezi, a major copper and cobalt mining centre.
Rio Tinto and venture builder Founders Factory have selected five startups for the fifth cohort of their Mining Tech Accelerator, backing technologies focused on geohazard monitoring, faster metal analysis, critical-mineral refining, mine planning and copper exploration.
Zambia’s Chambishi copper mine has recorded a new milestone in underground development, with a tunnel-boring machine excavating 422.4 metres in one month during trials on the Southeast Orebody Project.
Vedanta's Konkola Copper Mines plans a $317m, 300MW coal-fired power plant in southern Zambia, as President Hakainde Hichilema presses the company to accelerate investment to support copper growth.
Zambia exported 446,100t of refined copper in the first half of 2026, up 7.4%, while national mine production grew only 0.45% to 447,200t, official and company data show.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange touched a record $14,858.50 a tonne on 10 September 2026, up about 19% for the year and 48% over twelve months.
Koryx Copper has reported new drill results from its Haib project in southern Namibia, including a near-surface intercept grading 2.55% copper equivalent, as it works toward a resource update and pre-feasibility study.
Ivanhoe Mines has increased the mineral resource at its Makoko District copper discovery in the DRC by 30%, to roughly 12 million tonnes of contained copper, on the back of an aggressive 2026 drilling campaign.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange hit a fresh record near $14,635 a tonne on 8 September 2026, driven by tariff-related trade distortion and falling DRC output.
Ivanhoe Mines expanded its Makoko copper discovery in the DRC by 30% to about 12 million tonnes of contained copper, and plans a scoping study for early 2027.
US imports of refined copper from the DRC reached a record 53,290 tonnes in July, exceeding the volume imported throughout 2024, as Chinese purchases from Congo declined.
CrossBoundary Energy's solar and battery storage facility for Kamoa Copper reached commercial operation, supplying 30MW of continuous renewable power to the DRC copper complex.
The DRC and Angola have signed a new US-backed agreement on the Lobito Corridor, aiming to cut copper and cobalt transit times from roughly 30 days to a week or less as Washington competes with Chinese-backed routes.
Mota-Engil is set to sign a 30-year concession to rehabilitate and operate the DRC section of the Lobito Corridor railway, backed by up to $1bn in US financing.
Sandvik will supply 19 more trucks and loaders to Kamoa-Kakula, taking the underground equipment fleet at Africa's largest copper mine past 100 units.
Zijin Mining said flooding at Kamoa-Kakula could cut its attributable copper output by up to 57,000 tonnes in 2026, threatening its group-wide 1.2 million tonne target.
Chinese group Sinomine is pushing its Kitumba copper project in Zambia's Mumbwa district toward trial production, with a full concentrator commissioning targeted for late 2026.
President Hakainde Hichilema announced in July 2026 that Zambia has discovered further copper deposits near Mumbwa's Kitumba mine, promising a new mine and jobs for the district.
African Pioneer signed a definitive financing and technical services agreement with Hong Kong's Xinhai Mining Services on 30 July 2026, under which Xinhai funds development of its Ongombo and Ongeama copper projects in Namibia via a secured loan.
First Quantum's Sentinel mine produced 50,335t of copper in the second quarter, up 5,083t, while Kansanshi slipped on planned maintenance; both kept 2026 guidance unchanged.
