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 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, 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, which owns the Bisie tin mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo