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First Quantum Minerals Ltd plans to power its copper mines in Zambia through a US$500 million solar and wind energy installation funded by a TotalEnergies SE-backed company and Chariot Ltd.
Electricity shortages have, in the past decade, hurt mining operations in the southern African nation that relies almost completely on hydropower.
The project is a shift for Vancouver-based First Quantum that had planned on investing in a 300-megawatt coal-power project in neighbouring Botswana to supply the Zambian mines.
A 230-megawatt solar plant and 200-megawatt wind farm will be built to supply the Kansanshi and Sentinel mines, which collectively produced 434,847 metric tons of copper last year, more than half of Zambia’s total output, First Quantum said in an emailed statement Monday.
Total Eren, almost 30 percent owned by TotalEnergies, and Chariot Transitional Power, a unit of London-listed Chariot, will fund, build and operate the project. Construction is expected to start next year, and the project is still in its ealy stages, First Quantum said. — Bloomberg.
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