Abu Dhabi's IRH seeks more mining assets in Zambia

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 14 (Reuters) - International Resources Holding (IRH) and Zambia's state-owned miner ZCCM Investments Holdings ZCCM.LZ are jointly looking for new mining opportunities, two years after the Emirati company pledged $1.1 billion to revive Mopani Copper Mines.

• IRH, a unit of Abu Dhabi's 2PointZero Group 2POINTZERO.AD, acquired a strategic 51% stake in Mopani in 2024, which Zambia, Africa's second-largest copper producer, had taken control of three years earlier.

• "Beyond Mopani, IRH and ZCCM-IH are also exploring new opportunities for collaboration in mineral exploration and wider mining operations," the companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

• After producing 66,369 metric tons in 2025, Mopani has forecast that its annual copper output will reach 300,000 tons by 2029.

• IRH's investment in Mopani is integral to Zambia's ambition of increasing its copper production to 3 million tons a year by 2031.

• IRH is expanding its involvement in Africa's critical minerals sector and last year, following the Mopani investment, also acquired a controlling stake in tin producer Alphamin Resources AFM.V, which owns the Bisie tin mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.