- A Jeff Bezos- and Bill Gates-backed start up announced a rare discovery of a massive copper reserve in Zambia, CNBC reported.
- The discovery is a key development for the clean energy transition which needs a lot of copper.
A metals-exploration startup backed by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates has discovered what could become one of the world's biggest copper mines, CNBC reported on Monday.
KoBold Metals, based in California, said on Sunday that they found a vast copper deposit in Zambia — the largest deposit ever recorded in Zambian history. The rare discovery is a key development for the clean-energy transition. The International Energy Agency has previously warned that a dearth of critical mineral supply raises risks of a more expensive and delayed energy transition. KoBold's find could provide a boost to the supply of copper which is needed for solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and more.
Zambia was the world's 8th largest copper producer as of 2022. Copper makes up over 70% of the country's export revenues. Last year, Zambia's copper output fell to a 14-year low amid a debt crisis, which further pinched the copper-reliant Zambian economy.
In a post on X, the KoBold's president Josh Goldman said the $2 billion-dollar Zambian mine — a project called Mingomba — will be "one of the world's biggest high-grade large copper mines." He compared its potential to the Kakula copper mine, a giant reserve that sits across Zambia's northern border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
—KoBold Metals (@KoBold_Metals) February 5, 2024
KoBold — which is also backed by T. Rowe Price, Breakthrough Energy, Andreesen Horowitz, and Norwegian energy giant Equinor — has been drilling at its Zambian permit for a little over a year. The company is aiming to use AI tools to create a "Google Maps" of the Earth's crust with a special focus on copper, cobalt, nickel and lithium deposits.