Here’s the lucrative Zambian expenditure Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos are invested in
KoBold Metals, based in California and backed by billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, said it hopes to begin producing copper and cobalt at a project in Zambia within the next ten years.
According to Reuters, KoBold is investing around $150 million to expedite its hunt for further deposits at the Mingomba project, which is located along the famed African copper belt. According to Mfikeyi Makayi, the Zambian CEO of the Silicon Valley start-up, the extra research will be finished in 2024.
“It’s a very attractive project, and we have said within a decade we would want Mingomba to be a producing mine,” Makayi told Reuters.
To find the copper, cobalt, nickel, and lithium that the world needs for the clean energy transition and to speed up the rise of electric cars, KoBold utilises artificial intelligence. The company is backed by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a climate and technology fund that also has the backing of Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates and Richard Branson of Virgin Group.
According to Makai, investors in the firm are aware of the time-consuming nature of mine construction and the need to ensure metal supply. “They may not be your traditional, conventional backers, but the global need is so critical, it’s basically a crisis,” Makayi said.
“That’s why the buy-in is there, for people to be willing to be with us for the long haul; that just shows the commitment to what we are doing,” she added.
Makayi explained that the United States is exploring alternate supply sources for the aforementioned metals, and KoBold has been able to increase exploration thanks to the backing of American investors.
He also noted that KoBold plans to look for more deposits in Zambia that are as large as Mingomba, as well as prospects in Botswana, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
She refused to clarify whether KoBold will collaborate with Rio Tinto and BHP to develop Mingomba. When asked if KoBold would contemplate a joint venture, Makayi responded that the company’s own capabilities could progress the mining.
Approximately 247 million tons of ore with an average grade of 3.64% copper, or an estimated 9 million tons of copper, are the deposit’s identified resource, according to KoBold. “Maybe they will come in, it doesn’t have to be in Zambia, it could be Namibia or Botswana. They’re our partners, but those discussions are yet to be had,” Makayi said.
