Critical minerals potential of Zambia : guide to the geology, occurrences, exploration and mineral production

This first edition of the ‘Critical minerals potential of Zambia’ guide outlines the current and potential critical mineral resources of Zambia (as defined by the Zambian National Critical Minerals Strategy). It provides insight into the location of operating mines and known occurrences, geological information, exploration activity and production for each critical mineral in Zambia from 2019 to 2023 (Table 1). This guide is part of a collaboration between the Geological Survey Department of Zambia (GSD) and the British Geological Survey (BGS), with funding provided by the United Kingdom (UK) Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). It was supported by the BGS International Geoscience Research and Development (IGRD) programme. The transition to a low-carbon future will lead to a significant increase in the demand for critical minerals (Hund et al., 2023). For example, renewable energy sources, energy storage batteries and the electrification of the transport sector are key aspects of a low-carbon future and require mining of minerals (Mudd, 2022). The importance of these minerals is globally recognised. Many countries publish lists of those minerals that are ‘critical’ to their energy transition goals and economic stability. These are the result of assessments of their national importance as well as supply and demand risk (Mudd et al., 2024). In the context of Zambia, critical minerals are the naturally occurring minerals that are essential to modern technologies, the economy and international development (Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development, 2024). The recently published ‘National Critical Minerals strategy 2024 to 2028’ highlights eleven metals and minerals as critical to Zambia over the next five years (Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development, 2024). These eleven metals and minerals form the focus of the ‘Critical mineral potential guide of Zambia’: • cobalt • columbite-tantalite (‘coltan’) • copper • graphite • lithium • manganese • nickel • rare earth elements • sugilite (a complex silicate mineral) • tin • uranium