US invests in Zambia project in bid to loosen China’s grip on critical minerals

The United States is stepping up efforts to loosen China’s grip on critical mineral supply chains by investing in a new copper and cobalt project in Zambia.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) will provide a US$1.4 million grant to Metalex Africa, a subsidiary of US-based Metalex Commodities, to fund a feasibility study, in a deal signed on Thursday.

The study aims to expand a Zambian copper and cobalt facility, securing a direct source of the metals for American industries. Chinese companies currently hold a near-monopoly on the production and processing of cobalt used in electric vehicle batteries, military equipment and electronics.

The grant will support Metalex’s plan to expand its extraction and refining operations at the Kazozu mine in Zambia’s North-Western province. This includes a study to evaluate the potential for producing up to 25,000 additional metric tonnes of copper and cobalt concentrates annually, which would be shipped to the US and its allies.

A USTDA spokesperson said its assistance was designed to prepare projects to unlock financing from other institutions, including the private sector, and it would not fund extraction and processing at the mine.

  

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