Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema has officially launched a $2bn development of a super pit at Lumwana Copper Mine (Lumwana), owned by Canadian giant Barrick Gold (Barrick).

The NYSE- and TSX-listed company said on October 2 that the feasibility study of the Super Pit Expansion programme is set to be completed by December 2024 after which construction will begin in 2025.

The work on the processing plant will expand output from 27mn tonnes (t) 52mn, doubling the asset’s yearly copper output to 240,000t. The process plant expansion, Barrick said in a release, is supported by a ramp-up of total mining volumes, which are planned to increase incrementally year-on-year, from 150mn t in 2025 to about 240mn t in 2028 and then to an average rate of 290mn t annually from 2030.  This, said Barrick, will make Lumwana a long-life, tier one copper mine and among the top 25 globally.

“Mining plays a key role in Zambia’s economic structure and our partnership with Barrick is creating one team with a shared vision to develop a new economic frontier in the North-Western Province of the country and beyond,” said Hichilema.

The investment at Lumwana aligns with his government’s plan to ramp up copper output in the continent’s second biggest producer to about 3mn t per year from around 800,000t over the next decade.

About 550 more jobs will be created at the mine over the next five years and an additional 2,500 construction workers from 2025 to 2028.

“We are also planning to build critical infrastructure, including an airstrip and an industrial supplier park. This will enable key suppliers to establish themselves in the area, creating an economic hub that will further fuel growth and development in the wider region,” said Barrick’s president and CEO, Mark Bristow.