Vedanta’s (NSE: VEDL) Konkola Copper Mines has resumed operations at its Nchanga smelter in Zambia after more than three months of maintenance and repairs, the company said on Monday.
The Nchanga smelter, built at a cost of $350 million and commissioned in 2010, is one of the country’s largest, with capacity to produce 311,000 metric tons of copper.
The shutdown was initially scheduled for 60 days, but took 106 days after detailed inspections identified additional critical work, Konkola Copper Mines said in a statement.
The smelter rehabilitation cost about $40 million and was the first major refurbishment in eight years.
Konkola Copper Mines produced 80,215 tons of copper in 2025, according to the mines ministry.
The plant maintenance is part of the company’s broader modernisation strategy, designed to lift its output towards a target of 300,000 tons per year by 2030.
That fits within the ambition of Zambia, Africa’s No. 2 copper producer, to raise national output to 3 million tons by 2031 from 890,346 tons in 2025.
(Reporting by Chris Mfula, writing by Nelson Banya; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
