Zambia is set to became a player in the electric vehicle battery market, officially starting construction of what will be Africa’s largest producer of nickel. 

The Enterprise nickel mine in the Kalumbila District in Zambia’s North-Western province will have the capacity to process 4 million tons (Mt) of ore a year, producing 28 000 tons of nickel annually, reports Mining Review Africa.

According to Canadian-based First Quantum Minerals (FQM), 700 permanent jobs will be created when the US$250 million mine comes on line next year. It will share some infrastructure facilities with FQM’s nearby Sentinel open-pit copper mine.

Enterprise, which has an estimated resource of 40 Mt of ore containing 431 000 tons of nickel, will be the 10th largest nickel producer in the world.

9 August 2022
Image: Gallo/Getty Images