Adrian Carolko, vice president of exploration, and Kevin Bohnell, chief operating officer, are examining the core of the Dambuwa target.
Midnight Sun Mining, a Canadian exploration company, has recently announced its first resource in the Zambia-Congo Copperbelt. This area is currently seeing a surge in investment reminiscent of Cold War dynamics, which is pushing copper prices to new highs.
On January 20, the company revealed that the Caziba deposit, part of the Dome Area shallow copper system at its Solwezi project, has about 2.33 million indicated tonnes of copper, with a grade of 1.41%—equating to roughly 72.4 million pounds of copper.
This initial discovery may be modest, yet it positions the region as the second-largest globally for copper production and reserves, following Chile. Nearby, First Quantum Minerals operates the Kansanshi Mine, while the Sentinel Mine can also be found further in the area. Additionally, Barrick Mining manages the Lumwana mine to the west, and Ivanhoe Mines runs the Kamoa-Kakula complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo in partnership with Zijin Mining from China.
With copper prices soaring past $6 a pound at the beginning of February, Midnight Sun’s CEO Al Fabbro commented that this is the perfect moment to sell Cagiva Copper to finance drilling in the promising Dambwa deposit, which stretches nearly 20 kilometers.
“We have secured a crucial piece of land in a region that’s developing into one of the most significant copper areas globally,” Fabbro stated in an email. “This location is now almost exclusively reachable for major mining companies, and it’s at the center of a geopolitical struggle between the U.S. and China for access to this essential copper supply.”
Lobito Corridor
At the center of this competition lies Angola’s Lobito Corridor—a $2.1 billion project supported by Western nations aimed at extending rail networks to Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, transforming it into a crucial shipping route for minerals. In contrast, China is investing in a rail project moving east into Tanzania and the Indian Ocean.
Ironically, China was a pioneer in reviving Angola’s colonial-era Benguela railway, reestablished post-civil war in 2002. While repairs were completed around 2017, recent U.S. initiatives have sought to restore the corridor, aiming to curb China’s influence in Africa through infrastructure projects.
According to a January report from the South African Institute of International Affairs, increasing global demand for essential minerals and a desire among Western nations to reduce reliance on Chinese supply chains have spurred heightened investment in Africa’s mining sector.
Examples include backing the Lobito Corridor and a 2023 agreement focusing on Battery Value Chains between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as noted by institute authors Yaseen Tayoub and Adrian Joseph.
$553 Million U.S. Loan
The core of this strategy is a $553 million loan from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to the Lobito Atlantic Railway Consortium, aimed at refurbishing about 1,300 kilometers of rail in Angola and enhancing port facilities at Lobito.
Furthermore, the African Development Bank and the African Finance Corporation are loaning $1.6 billion to upgrade Angola’s rail system and expand new lines in the Copperbelt. This is particularly appealing for miners like First Quantum, Barrick, and Ivanhoe, as it offers a more efficient route to Atlantic markets.
Conversely, China is revitalizing the old Tanzania-Zambia Railway, worth around $1.4 billion, to link the Copperbelt directly to the port of Dar es Salaam, offering a direct connection to Asian markets—the traditional path for much of the region’s copper.
These two initiatives illustrate a rare instance of conflicting infrastructure strategies driven by geopolitics evolving within the same mineral-rich area. While Western governments are advocating for the Lobito route to solidify mineral supply chains, China is enhancing the transport corridor it helped establish decades ago.
China’s Investment
According to SAIIA, Asian firms invested about $10 billion in mining and processing on the continent in 2022, making it the second-largest sector after construction and accounting for nearly a quarter of Africa’s total spending.
From 2019 to 2024, Chinese ownership of African mines surged by 21%, contrasting with declines in ownership by companies from Australia, Canada, and the U.S. China’s primary focus remains on copper, which constitutes 35% of its non-energy mining investments in Africa. The Kamoa-Kakula mine holds a significant share in this regard, producing 388,000 tonnes of copper concentrate last year with expectations to ramp up to 550,000 tonnes by 2028.
In comparison, First Quantum is forecasting 370,000 tonnes from the Kansanshi/Sentinel mines in 2025 and aims for around 430,000-490,000 tonnes by 2028, while Barrick’s Lumwana is projected to produce 145,000 tonnes this year and increase to 240,000 tonnes by 2028, thanks to expansions.
Dambuwa Drilling
Midnight Sun has engaged the architects behind Barrick’s Lumwana resource to spearhead its operations. Adrian O’Brien, vice president of corporate development, noted that with Bohnell now leading operations, six rigs are currently drilling along the 20-kilometer anomaly at Dambuwa, known to contain 0.73% copper at the surface. The goal is to examine the first 12 kilometers by year-end.
“Kevin left Barrick because he genuinely believed Dambwa was larger than Lumwana,” O’Brien explained during a phone conversation. “He brought that same approach here.” Midnight Sun sees the small Cagiva deposits as a cash-generating asset, positioned conveniently under 10 kilometers from First Quantum’s processing facility, which could facilitate funding to boost the broader Solwezi efforts to compete with larger neighboring resources.
Haywood Analysis
Mining analyst Pierre Vaillancourt of Haywood Securities commented in a January 20 report that Cagiva’s grades are significantly higher than standard economic thresholds for copper oxide. “The mineralization extends to about 30 meters deep and occupies a compact space of 300 meters by 350 meters, making it very accessible for extraction,” he said.
However, Midnight Sun’s stock slipped 8% to C$1.51 following the announcement, placing its overall value at C$321 million ($234 million). Although market expectations had anticipated copper grades between 2% and 3%, Vaillancourt suggested that the negative reaction was somewhat exaggerated.
This junior has a technical partnership with First Quantum, which also supports metallurgical aspects. O’Brien mentioned that the long-term plan is to sell the project.
“We are explorers, not operators,” he stated. “First Quantum has a new circuit in place that needs resources. It could potentially be a perfect fit.”
Favreau pointed out that Midnight Sun began operations in the area over 12 years ago, during a time when copper prices and investor interest were comparatively low.
“We have remained committed, and now Midnight Sun is progressing on a high-impact discovery at Dambuwa, which holds the potential to evolve into the next major deposit in the Domes region, particularly in this unprecedented copper market,” he asserted. “The timing couldn’t be better.”
