Vedanta group takes control of Zambian copper mines

22 Jul 2024 CW Team

UK-based Vedanta Resources, the parent company of India's Vedanta Ltd, announced that it regained control of its Konkola copper mines (KCM) in Zambia after settling dues amounting to $245.75 million. The company, owned by billionaire Anil Agarwal, had initially regained control of the copper mines and smelter in November 2023, following their seizure by the Zambian administration in 2019, but needed to pay the mines' creditors to restart operations.

Vedanta Resources secured control of KCM's assets after a five-year legal battle, which began when former Zambian President Edgar Lungu accused the company of failing to invest adequately in the operations.

Despite regaining control, Vedanta Resources still needs to raise an additional $1 billion to revive KCM's mining operations and invest in advancing the Konkola deep mining project, which contains some of the world's richest copper deposits, according to a Reuters report from early July.

The Zambian government owns a 20% stake in KCM through ZCCM, a mining investment company, while Vedanta Resources holds the remaining ownership.

Additionally, Anil Agarwal stated last month that Vedanta Resources plans to reduce its debt by $3 billion over the next three years, as the company faces mounting debt and multiple rating downgrades since the previous year.

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