Vedanta unit targets IPO in New York

A Vedanta Resources unit has applied to sell its shares in New York as part of efforts to raise money for the Zambian copper mining complex it owns.

CopperTech Metals was established last year as Vedanta pivoted to the US to mobilise funds for the group’s Konkola Copper Mines business. Vedanta – owned by Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal – regained control of its 80% stake in KCM during 2024 after resolving a long-running dispute with the Zambian government, partly by agreeing to loan $1 billion to the mining company over five years.

About a third of that amount has already been funded and CopperTech will allocate $670 million from the proceeds of the New York Stock Exchange offering to cover the outstanding balance, according to a prospectus published on June 2. The document didn’t disclose how many shares will be made available, or how much CopperTech hopes to raise.

The share sale comes after President Donald Trump’s administration prioritised shoring up access to critical minerals, encouraging both greater domestic production and overseas supply deals.

Vedanta’s Zambian mines are “one of the few operations positioned to help meet US demand for copper,” Delaware-registered CopperTech said in the prospectus. The company said it is placed “to capitalise on what we believe will be an unprecedented copper demand cycle.”

KCM plans to spend $2.7 billion by early next decade and aims to more than double copper output to 270,000 tons a year, with a third of that volume due to come from smelting metal supplied from other mines, the prospectus said. The funds from the offering will be applied toward completing the underground Konkola Deep operation, which is crucial to the company’s prospects of hitting the ambitious growth target, the prospectus said.

Mining executives are increasingly focused on copper in anticipation that supply will struggle to keep pace with rising demand from electric vehicles, renewable energy, power grids and AI infrastructure. Copper is currently trading near $14 000 a ton, just below an all-time high.

Zambia is Africa’s second-biggest supplier of the metal, producing a record 890 000 tons last year, and relies on copper for most of its export earnings. Mines owned by First Quantum Minerals and Barrick Mining Corp accounted for 60% of output in 2025.

KCM signed a memorandum of understanding in January with the Africa Finance Corp, according to the prospectus. The mining firm expressed an interest in using a railway being developed by the AFC to connect Zambia’s mining regions to an Atlantic Ocean port in Angola, while the development finance institution “will explore the possibility of providing financial and advisory support” to KCM, it said.

The prospectus also said that commodity trading house Trafigura Group initiated ongoing arbitration proceedings against KCM in September 2024, seeking $83 million plus interest stemming from copper sale contracts.

Tom Albanese, the former chief executive officer of Rio Tinto Group, is CopperTech’s vice chair. Zambia’s state-controlled mining investment company owns the remaining 20% of KCM.

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