CopperTech Metals, the US-based unit Vedanta Resources built to run its Zambian copper assets, launched its roadshow for a New York listing this week. The company wants up to $3.57 billion in valuation and plans to sell 23.5 million shares between $16 and $18 each. That could bring in roughly $423.5 million. Shares will trade on the NYSE under the ticker « CUX. »
Behind the numbers sits Konkola Copper Mines, the flagship asset of Vedanta in the Copperbelt of Zambia.
The group of the Billionaire Anil Agarwal regained control there in 2024, after years of dispute with the Zambian government, which had seized the mine under former president Edgar Lungu in 2019.
Vedanta has poured over $3 billion into Konkola since 2004 and now wants to push output from roughly 80,000 tonnes last year to around 270,000 tonnes by 2031.
That kind of growth needs serious capital. CopperTech plans to spend $2.7 billion over five years, with much of it aimed at Konkola Deep, a major underground project investors see as central to the turnaround story.
Phesto Musonda, who chairs ZCCM Investment Holdings, Zambia’s state partner in the mine, says listing proceeds could cut three years off the development timeline.
Copper demand keeps climbing, driven by electric vehicles, power grids, and data centers tied to AI infrastructure. CopperTech leans heavily on that narrative in its pitch to Wall Street.
Zambia, the second-largest copper producer of Africa, wants national output to hit 3 million tonnes annually by 2031, up from 890,000 tonnes last year.
Whether Wall Street buys into a complicated turnaround story, though, remains an open question.
Ange GARA
