The Project
✦ Project Overview
The Chongwe East Copper Project- also known as the Kabulashishi Mining Project- is located in Lusaka Province, Zambia. The project represents a significant opportunity to bring a large-scale open pit copper mine into production, backed by a completed Pre-Feasibility Study and confirmed mineral resources of over 13 million tonnes. Owned and operated by Velos Mineral Development, the project was issued a 25-year mining licence on 1 July 2025, spanning 2,844 hectares and authorising the mining of gold, cobalt, copper, limestone, and manganese.
The Chongwe East Project has also received its environmental clearance certificate from the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA)- issued on 2 April 2025- confirming that no fatal flaws were identified in the project’s environmental and social impact assessment and that appropriate mitigation measures are in place.
Key Project Stats
The Velos Drilling Campaign
In 2024, Velos conducted a targeted drilling programme across the intended mining area. The results were significant:
- Confirming copper grade within the planned mining target
- Improving confidence in the geological model and weathering profile
- Validating the potential of the project as a commercially viable mining operation.
The historical and Velos datasets returned comparable mean copper grades of 0.95% and 0.93% respectively, demonstrating the reliability of the broader resource model.
Pre-Feasibility Study
Building on the above, the Chongwe East Copper Project is supported by a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) completed in 2025 by Minxcon (Pty) Ltd, an independent mining and resource consulting firm. The PFS assessed the viability of the project across all key disciplines- including geology, mining, processing, infrastructure, and capital estimation- and confirmed the project’s potential as a commercially viable open pit copper mining operation.
Project History
The Chongwe East site has a history of exploration and development stretching back to the 1950s. It has passed through the hands of several significant mining entities over the decades:
✦
1952
Rhodesia Selection Trust
✦
1961–1970
Roan Consolidated Mines Limited
✦
2005–2007
Zambezi Resources Limited
✦
2013
Kabulashishi Mine Limited
✦
Present
Velos Mineral Development
This long history of exploration has generated a substantial dataset that, combined with Velos’ own 2024 drilling campaign, provided the foundation for the current mineral resource estimate and Pre-Feasibility Study.
✦ Chongwe East Copper Project
Project Location
The Chongwe East Copper Project is situated in the Kabulashishi area of Lusaka Province, Zambia, approximately 60 kilometres south of Rufunsa District. The project falls within the North Eastern extension of the Zambezi Belt- a recognised copper-mineralised geological corridor.
The project area benefits from reasonable proximity to Lusaka, providing access to logistics networks, services and administrative functions. Road access to the project area is established, with haul roads, service roads and an access road all incorporated into the project’s infrastructure planning.
