Congo Copperbelt Eyes Power Link to Reduce Mining Costs

Copper and cobalt miners in Congo could save about $1 billion a year by swapping diesel generators for imported electricity under a planned $300 million transmission project. The project, backed by Gridworks Development Partners and Trafigura, will see the construction of a 200-kilometer line from Kalumbila in Zambia to Kolwezi in Congo, tying the Copperbelt into the Southern African Power Pool. The connection would serve a mining region facing a power deficit exceeding one gigawatt. The project is especially important because Congo is the world’s top cobalt producer and the second-largest copper producer. However, unreliable electricity has constrained the country’s mining expansion and investment.