- A discovery of gold intersections made at Zambia copper deposit
- Zimbabwe exit prognosis
- Significant upside forecasted against bright copper and gold outlook
Prospect Resources, an Australia-listed miner once heralded as a lithium pioneer in Zimbabwe, has fully exited the country’s lithium space, opting instead to deepen its footprint in Zambia's copper belt. In a surprise development, the company announced this month that its Nyungu Central deposit at the Mumbezhi Project, originally a copper asset, also contains significant gold intersections.
The timing is critical, copper prices are climbing amid AI-driven tech expansion, while Zimbabwe’s mining environment continues to face investor scrutiny. The move marks a significant strategic pivot. It raises questions about the viability of Zimbabwe’s lithium investment environment and points to the growing allure of copper and gold as next-generation tech metals.
Prospect Resources burst onto Zimbabwe’s mining radar with its Arcadia Lithium Project, once billed as one of the most advanced lithium projects in Africa. Located near Harare, Arcadia attracted international attention during the lithium supercycle of 2021–2022, when demand for electric vehicle (EV) batteries surged.
In late 2021, Prospect sold Arcadia to China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co. for US$378 million, a deal that sparked excitement and controversy within Zimbabwe’s resource governance space. For Prospect, the move was lucrative. The asset had not yet commenced large-scale production, yet it delivered a massive exit profit. Arcadia’s sale allowed Prospect to return over US$30 million to shareholders and refocus its capital on new frontiers.
As lithium prices corrected in 2023–2024 following oversupply concerns, the decision now appears not just profitable, but prescient. Earlier this year, Prospect disposed of its remaining lithium claims in Zimbabwe, marking a full retreat from the country. While some industry watchers cite regulatory pressures, including local ownership laws and indigenisation expectations, Prospect maintained that its exit was strategic rather than political.
Still, Zimbabwe’s policy landscape cannot be ignored. The Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill, pending for years but pushed forward in 2024, introduced clauses that rattled foreign investors. Among these were state equity participation provisions, stricter licensing controls, and opaque valuation mechanisms, all factors likely to influence boardroom decisions abroad.
Furthermore, Zimbabwe's lithium space has become increasingly crowded and state-monitored, with Chinese investors dominating the scene. For a junior ASX-listed company like Prospect, navigating such a complex web where both policy risk and partner alignment are critical, may have tilted the cost-benefit analysis toward exit.
The Copper-Gold Bet in Zambia: A Strategic Realignment
With lithium in the rear-view mirror, Prospect is now banking on copper a metal equally critical in the green energy and digital revolutions. Its Mumbezhi Copper Project, located in Zambia’s Central Province, is emerging as a potential game-changer.
The most recent exploration update from Prospect reveals that Nyungu Central, one of the key deposits within Mumbezhi, hosts high-grade gold intersections alongside copper mineralisation. This dual-metal presence enhances the asset’s economic potential and derisks it in volatile commodity cycles.
Global Price Upward Movements
Importantly, Prospect owns an 85% stake in Mumbezhi a controlling interest that provides strategic flexibility, unlike some lithium joint ventures. Zambia’s mining-friendly environment, particularly under the HH administration, has also been a draw. Since 2022, President Hakainde Hichilema’s government has moved swiftly to stabilise mining taxes, remove VAT bottlenecks, and speed up licensing processes. In 2023, the government committed to increasing copper production to 3 million tonnes per year by 2030, up from just under 800,000 tonnes in 2022.
While lithium has captured headlines for powering EVs, copper is emerging as the silent workhorse of the AI revolution. The expansion of data centres, cloud infrastructure, and high-speed computing requires immense volumes of copper for power cables, transformers, and cooling systems.
According to Goldman Sachs, the world could face a copper deficit of 8 million tonnes by 2030 if new mines are not brought online. Already, copper prices have rebounded from a low of US$7,200/tonne in mid-2023 to over US$9,000/tonne in early 2026, with forecasts hinting at further upside. Prospect’s pivot to copper, with a gold bonus, places it squarely in the supply chain of next-gen technologies, from AI infrastructure to grid-scale batteries and EVs.
To appreciate the scale of Prospect’s ambition, it is useful to compare with Zambia’s mining juggernaut, First Quantum Minerals (FQM). FQM’s Kansanshi Mine, the largest copper mine in Africa, produced 177,000 tonnes of copper in 2023, with an expansion plan underway. At Sentinel Mine, also operated by FQM, production topped 250,000 tonnes in the same year, making it one of the most efficient open-pit operations in Southern Africa. At Kansashi Mine elaborate gold mining stemming as a by product from copper is ongoing. Below is the production data for Kansashi, showing significant potential upside for Prospect.
Kansashi Mine Production Matrix
FQM is investing over US$1.25 billion into expansions and smelter upgrades, targeting long-term dominance in copper cathode and concentrate exports. While Prospect is a much smaller player, its asset is located in a highly prospective copper corridor less than 150km from FQM’s operations. This proximity adds not only geological relevance but also potential future synergies or offtake agreements.
Prospect’s move to Zambia appears more economic than ideological. Zambia offers clearer investment frameworks, stable tax and export policies, an open-door policy for mining exploration and proximity to established logistics networks and smelters.
In contrast, Zimbabwe’s mining investment appeal continues to be marred by exchange rate instability, policy unpredictability, and state-linked overreach in strategic minerals. Moreover, Zambia is increasingly being viewed as a continental hub for battery metal processing, with discussions around local smelting and refining capacity gathering pace.
Prospect Resources has engineered a clean break from its Zimbabwe lithium legacy and repositioned itself in the heart of Africa’s copper revival. With the added twist of gold mineralisation and a friendlier regulatory climate, Zambia offers both scale and certainty.
As lithium's shine dims under supply glut pressures, and copper rises on the back of AI and infrastructure demand, Prospect’s strategic realignment could prove, once again, ahead of its time. In Africa’s ever-shifting mining chessboard, Prospect has made its next calculated move this time, to the copper-gold heart of Zambia.
