Africa
14 October 2026
KCM awards US$498 million Nchanga tailings leach plant contract
Written by Sofia D'Olivo
Konkola Copper Mines Plc (KCM) has awarded China NERIN Engineering Company Limited a US$498 million engineering, procurement and construction contract. The agreement covers a new tailings leach plant at Nchanga, Zambia, and was signed on 17 September 2026. China NERIN will deliver the plant on a turnkey basis and support commissioning, performance testing and training, building on its previous design work for the project.
The plant will reprocess historical tailings from the TD5 dam using solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW). Planned production is approximately 70,000 tonnes/year of LME Grade A copper cathode at full capacity, with a design throughput of 17.7 million tonnes/year of tailings. Implementation is expected to take 24 months, with full production reached from the fourth year of operation.
