Vedanta

June 23 (Reuters) - Vedanta Ltd VDAN.NS:

• TWIN STAR HOLDINGS SELLS 65.1 MILLION SHARES IN VEDANTA AT 291.36 RUPEES/SHARE VIA BULK DEAL - NSE DATA

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: VDAN.NS

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By Nelson Banya

June 19 (Reuters) - Zambia's ZCCM Investment Holdings ZCCM.LZ said on Friday that Vedanta's VDAN.NS planned IPO of its copper unit could speed up their jointly owned company's $2.7 billion expansion project.

Vedanta is preparing the U.S. listing of CopperTech Metals, a U.S.-domiciled integrated copper and cobalt producer, which will operate its 79%-owned Konkola Copper Mines in Zambia's copperbelt province. ZCCM owns the balance of the shareholding.

Zambia, Africa's No.2 copper producer, plans to raise output to 3 million metric tons by 2031, from 890,346 tons last year, as it seeks to capitalise on rising copper demand, driven by the global shift to renewable energy.

Vedanta regained control of Konkola in 2023, after the asset was seized by Zambia's previous administration of former president Edgar Lungu in 2019.

The company's Konkola Deep Mine Programme (KDMP) project seeks to raise Konkola's copper output to 300,000 tons by 2031, from 80,215 tons last year.

ZCCM board chairman Phesto Musonda told investors that a listing should cut the project's ramp-up time by three years.

"The commitment by Vedanta was that they would spend $1.1 billion on the KDMP in the next five years, but with the listing now, we have adjusted the timeline," Musonda said during ZCCM's capital markets day hosted in Paris.

"We are saying, this cash is available now, the investment we have brought it to 2028. We're going to have the KDMP development way before the five years," he added.

Vedanta did not respond to a request for comment.

The expansion project includes one of Zambia's deepest shafts, reaching 1,500 metres, to access high-grade ores, as well as dewatering and processing infrastructure.

ZCCM, which is listed on the Lusaka, London and Euronext stock exchanges, said it was considering a stock buy-back to shore up its share price, which it says is significantly undervalued on the European bourses.

(Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by Alexander Smith)

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** Vedanta Aluminium Metal VEDO.NS stock falls 5% below listing price to 495.90 rupees in trading debut

** Listed at 522 rupees, 331.3% higher than issue price of 121.03 rupees

** Vedanta Oil and Gas VEDL.NS also drops 5% below opening price on debut

** Vedanta Power TALA.NS and Vedanta Iron and Steel VEDR.NS rise 3.3% and 5.3% post-listing on NSE

** Parent Vedanta VDAN.NS, which now houses the base metals business, slips 1%

** All four firms listed Monday following demerger scheme that split VDAN's aluminium, power, iron & steel, and oil & gas units

(Reporting by Vijay Malkar)

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By Neha Arora and Sarita Chaganti Singh

NEW DELHI, June 10 (Reuters) - Indian industrial groups Reliance, Vedanta and Adani have shown interest in developing facilities to process Andhra Pradesh state's significant reserves of increasingly important rare-earth minerals, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.

With New Delhi seeking to cut India's dependence on China for rare earths, the three companies are among about 10 who have expressed interest in setting up rare earth facilities in the southern state, one of the sources said.

The sources declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Andhra Pradesh holds 211 million metric tons of beach sand mineral resources, including rare earths, across 16 identified coastal deposits, according to a draft document. India has 482.6 million tons of rare earth ore resources, according to the Geological Survey of India.

RARE EARTH AMBITIONS

The interest comes as New Delhi steps up efforts to build domestic rare earth mining, processing and magnet manufacturing capacity, while Andhra Pradesh aims to attract 500 billion rupees ($5.2 billion) in rare earth and titanium investments over the next decade.

The plans were set out in a draft government document.

The Andhra Pradesh government, Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS, Vedanta Ltd VDAN.NS and Adani Enterprises Ltd ADEL.NS did not respond to Reuters emails seeking comment.

Andhra Pradesh was among four states identified in February's federal budget for the development of rare earth "corridors" covering mining, processing and magnet production.

The initiative followed New Delhi's approval in November of a 73 billion rupee programme to support rare earth magnet manufacturing.

Rare earth elements are essential for permanent magnets used in applications such as electric vehicle motors. While India holds substantial rare earth reserves, it lacks industrial-scale facilities capable of processing the minerals to high purity levels.

CAPITAL INCENTIVES AND OTHER MEASURES

Andhra Pradesh plans to issue tenders for rare earth facilities after securing cabinet approval for its rare earth corridor policy, which is expected within a month, the sources said.

The state also plans to offer capital-linked incentives and additional benefits for projects with investments of 10 billion rupees or more, the sources said.

Andhra Pradesh has been courting large-scale investments, attracting companies including Google and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel, and aims to secure $1 trillion in investment commitments by 2029, a state minister told Reuters last November.

(Reporting by Neha Arora and Sarita Chaganti Singh; Editing by Mayank Bhardwaj and David Holmes)

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June 4 (Reuters) - India's financial crime-fighting agency has not imposed any penalty or restriction following searches conducted at Vedanta's VDAN.NS premises, the company said on Thursday.

The Economic Times reported on Tuesday that the Enforcement Directorate had conducted searches at Vedanta group locations in connection with a foreign exchange law probe, to which Vedanta said at the time it was extending "full cooperation".

"There is no impact on financial, operation or other activities of the company," the miner said today.

(Reporting by Aleef Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

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LUSAKA, June 3 (Reuters) - Zambia has extended the suspension of a 10% duty on copper concentrate exports to September 30, to help clear stockpiles of unprocessed material as the country's major smelters undergo extended maintenance and repairs.

Copper miners in Africa's second-largest producer of the metal used in electrical infrastructure are undertaking lengthy smelter maintenance programmes following technical challenges that have impacted processed output.

Zambia mostly exports its copper in the form of refined cathodes, rather than as concentrate. The country exported 890,346 metric tons of copper in 2025 and plans to raise national output to 3 million tons by 2031.

The suspension of the duty, first implemented in August 2025, covers 271,742 tons of copper concentrates, according to a government notice seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

Mopani Copper Mines, jointly owned by Abu Dhabi-based International Resources Holding and Zambia's state mining company ZCCM-IH, has the largest duty-free export quota of 100,000 tons of copper concentrates.

Barrick Mining Corp's ABX.TO Lumwana Mining Company has a quota of 56,986 metric tons, followed by First Quantum Minerals FM.TO and the Chinese-owned Nkana Mining and Minerals Processing, with about 43,000 tons each.

Lubambe Copper Mine, 70% owned by China's JCHX Mining 603979.SS, has a 15,000-ton duty-free export quota, while Vedanta's VDAN.NS Konkola Copper Mines has a quota of 12,541 tons, according to the government notice.

(Reporting by Chris Mfula, writing by Nelson Banya
Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

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Updates paragraph 4 with statement from Vedanta

June 2 (Reuters) - India’s financial crime-fighting agency on Tuesday searched premises linked to the Vedanta Group VDAN.NS, the Economic Times reported, citing officials.

The Enforcement Directorate was conducting the searches as part of an investigation under India’s Foreign Exchange Management Act, the report said.

Details of the alleged violations were not immediately available.

The company is extending full cooperation to the authorities and is providing all information sought, a Vedanta spokesperson said to Reuters.

"The company remains committed to compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. As the matter is currently under regulatory process, we are unable to comment further at this stage," the spokesperson added.

The Enforcement Directorate did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

(Reporting by Abhirami G in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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Adds dropped word 'president' in paragraph 10

By Neha Arora

NEW DELHI, May 19 (Reuters) - India's top copper producers, including Adani, Vedanta and Hindalco, are opposing plans to make copper wire made by secondary refiners acceptable under government quality standards, saying products made from scrap pose safety risks.

The dispute has triggered a months-long standoff between large primary producers and smaller refiners over fire-refined high conductivity (FRHC) copper rods, which are mainly used in electrical applications such as transformers, power cables and wires.

Large producers argue that copper rods from smaller refiners, which mostly use scrap as raw material, should not be under the same standards because the products may not consistently meet the purity levels required for electrical applications.

"Indian fire (secondary) refiners may not have the requisite technology and hence are incapable of manufacturing the FRHC grade consistently," the large producers said, according to the minutes of a March 23 meeting of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) that was reviewed by Reuters.

The state-run BIS oversees product quality standards in India.

"Many of the manufacturers are not refining and just re-melting scrap to make substandard product," the minutes said of the views expressed by the Indian Primary Copper Association (IPCPA).

The IPCPA's partners include Adani ADEL.NS, Vedanta VDAN.NS, Hindalco HALC.NS and Hindustan Copper HCPR.NS.

In the minutes, secondary producers defended their production method, saying fire refining is used to control the chemical composition of copper and meets conductivity requirements used internationally for cable manufacturing.

The BIS did not respond to requests from Reuters for comment.

IPCPA President Rohit Pathak said the industry body was seeking separate standards for FRHC copper because "fire refining which uses copper scrap as the primary input, cannot remove impurities to achieve 99.99% purity required for electrical applications."

"Lower purity will increase overheating and fire risks. A separate standard will help ensure safe usage," Pathak, who is also CEO of Hindalco's copper business, told Reuters in a statement.

India's total demand for copper rods in the fiscal year to end-March 2025 was estimated at 1.2 million metric tons, of which imports accounted for 0.1 million tons, while FRHC copper rod production stood at 0.4 million tons, according to industry estimates.

Imports are mainly sourced from the United Arab Emirates, although supplies have been disrupted this year by the Middle East conflict.

As a result of the dispute, about 400,000 tons of copper wire rod is currently being traded outside the quality control regime, an industry source said.

(Reporting by Neha Arora; editing by Mayank Bhardwaj and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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May 15 (Reuters) - Vedanta Ltd VDAN.NS:

• VEDANTA - AMENDS FACILITY AGREEMENT WITH TOTAL COMMITMENT UP TO $600 MILLION

Source text: ID:nBSE1SYMhT

Further company coverage: VDAN.NS

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** Vedanta VDAN.NS shares rise 4.5% to 337.80 rupees, hitting a record high

** S&P raises long-term issuer credit rating for London-based parent company Vedanta Resources to BB from B+

** S&P upgrades citing improving operating performance, stronger cashflows and better access to funding

** Says the company is benefiting from higher commodity prices and a more integrated cost structure, particularly in aluminum

** Moody's in May upgraded the company to Ba3 from B1; Fitch in April upgraded to BB– from B+

** Moody's said Vedanta's demerger into five listed companies will improve the organization structure

** Nine of 13 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher; their median PT is 847.5 rupees

** YTD, stock up 50.3% vs 10.4% decline in benchmark Nifty 50 Index .NSEI

(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru)

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By Arpan Chaturvedi

May 4 (Reuters) - An Indian appeals court on Monday rejected the challenge by Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal's Vedanta VDAN.NS to fellow billionaire Gautam Adani's winning bid for a bankrupt real estate giant, a lawyer involved in the case told Reuters.

The win gives a boost to Adani's takeover of over $4 billion in prized assets of bankrupt Jaiprakash Associates JAIA.NS that include the country's only Formula One track.

The appeals tribunal said it did not find merit in the issues raised in the challenge and dismissed the appeal, New Delhi-based lawyer Bishwajit Dubey told Reuters.

(Writing by Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Hogue)

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April 29 (Reuters) - Vedanta Ltd VDAN.NS:

• INDIA'S VEDANTA EXEC: POST DEMERGER, TRADING OF NEWLY LISTED COMPANIES WILL BEGIN MID-JUNE

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: VDAN.NS

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April 27 (Reuters) - India has launched an investigation on some aluminium wire products from Malaysia in the backdrop of existing countervailing duties that are set to lapse in September, the government said late on Monday.

A group of companies including Hindalco Industries Limited HALC.NS, Vedanta Limited VDAN.NS and Bharat Aluminium Company had filed an application for a review to ascertain if there is a need for an extension to the duties.

(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh and Neha Arora; Editing by Chris Reese)

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April 24 (Reuters) - India's Hindustan Zinc HZNC.NS posted a bigger-than-expected 67.6% jump in fourth-quarter profit on Friday, boosted by a surge in metal prices and higher production.

• The Vedanta VDAN.NS group company's consolidated net profit rose to 50.33 billion rupees ($533.91 million) for the three months ended March 31

• Analysts, on average, had expected 45.19 billion rupees, according to LSEG data.

• Hindustan Zinc is India's largest zinc producer and derives a significant share of its earnings from silver, prices of which showed sharp swings during the quarter.

• Spot silver XAG= rose 5.4% as the ongoing war in Iran triggered demand for the metal.

• Domestic demand for silver remained strong as investors continued to buy silver exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

• Benchmark zinc prices CMZN3 on the London Metal Exchange rose 3.5%.

• Revenue came in at 135.44 billion rupees ($1.44 billion), up 49% on-year.

• Analysts, on average, expected 119.64 billion rupees.

• The firm's mined metal production rose 2% on-year to 315 kilotonnes in the quarter, while refined metal production climbed 5% to 282 kilotonnes, driven by additional capacity.

• The company forecast growth capex of $500 million to 600 million for fiscal 2027, and added it expects to complete its hot acid leaching technology project at Dariba by the September 2026 quarter.

• It also declared a dividend of 11 rupees per share.

($1 = 94.2663 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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** Shares of Vedanta VDAN.NS rise as much as 3.1% to 795 rupees

** Board approves oil-to-metals conglomerate's demerger into four separately listed companies, effective May 1

** Post demerger, VDAN will spin off businesses like steel and ferrous metals, oil and gas, aluminium, and power, while its base metals unit will remain with the parent

** "We intend to make (the) demerger effective from April 1, and it will take maybe four to six weeks, so mid of May all the five companies will get listed," CFO told Reuters in Jan

** VDAN shares up ~40% since getting Indian tribunal's approval on Dec 16

** First announced in 2023, the plan was designed to support growth as UK-based parent Vedanta Resources carried heavy debt, which it has since reduced significantly

** Analysts have a "buy" rating on avg; median PT is 850 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, VDAN up 30.5%

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru)

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By Neha Arora

NEW DELHI, April 16 (Reuters) - India's talks with Zambia over critical minerals mining have stalled amid a lack of assurances from Lusaka on mining rights, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

India last year received an allocation of 9,000 square km (3,474.92 square miles) to explore cobalt — a key component in batteries for electric vehicles and mobile phones — as well as copper, widely used in power generation, electronics and construction.

India dispatched a team of geologists last year, who have since returned with samples of minerals, including cobalt and copper.

The exploration programme in Zambia was set to run for three years, after which New Delhi had planned to invite private sector companies to participate, subject to securing mining rights.

It was not immediately clear why Zambia was withholding assurances for mining rights.

New Delhi is making efforts to restart discussions with Zambia, but the situation is still uncertain, one of the sources said.

They declined to be identified as the discussions are not public. India's federal Ministry of Mines did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

India has been in talks with several African countries to acquire critical mineral blocks on a government-to-government basis, while also exploring opportunities in Australia and Latin America.

The Indian government last year held internal discussions over the country's growing vulnerability to a tightening global copper market and ways to secure supplies from resource-rich countries during ongoing trade negotiations.

India's copper imports have risen sharply since the 2018 closure of Vedanta's VDAN.NS Sterlite Copper smelter. The country imported 1.2 million metric tons of copper in the fiscal year ending March 2025, up 4% from the previous year.

India is almost entirely dependent on cobalt imports, with shipments of cobalt oxide rising 20% in 2024-25 to 693 metric tons, government data showed.

(Reporting by Neha Arora; Editing by Mayank Bhardwaj and Janane Venkatraman)

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Adds shutdown details, updates death toll

By Jatindra Dash

April 15 (Reuters) - At least 17 people died and 36 others were injured following a suspected boiler explosion at a power plant operated by India's Vedanta Ltd VDAN.NS in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, a government official said on Wednesday.

Operations at the 600-megawatt coal plant were suspended after the blast, senior administration official Amrit Vikas Topno told Reuters.

The incident took place on Tuesday at Singhitarai, about 230 km (143 miles) away from the state capital of Raipur.

The shutdown of the plant comes as India is poised for a harsher summer. The government has delayed the maintenance of nearly 10 gigawatt of coal plant capacity in the absence of gas supplies due to the Mideast conflict.

The blast was likely caused by overheating in the boiler tube, District Superintendent of Police PK Thakur told Reuters.

In a statement, Vedanta said an "unfortunate incident" had occurred at its Singhitarai plant and that a thorough investigation is underway to determine the cause.

Vedanta said that NTPC GE Power Services operates and maintains the plant.

Vedanta acquired the 1,200 MW coal power plant through a bankruptcy process in 2022. Only 600 MW of the plant has been operational.

(Writing by Sethuraman NR, additional reporting by Abhirami G in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Kim Coghill)

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By Jatindra Dash

April 14 (Reuters) - At least nine people were killed and 15 injured following a blast in a boiler unit of a power plant on Tuesday that was operated by India's Vedanta in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, local police said.

The cause of the explosion was not yet known.

The incident took place at Singhitarai, about 230 km away from the state capital of Raipur.

The blast was likely caused by overheating in the boiler tube, said P. K. Thakur, superintendent of police of Sakti district, where the plant is located.

In a statement, Vedanta said an "unfortunate incident" had occurred at its Singhitarai plant and that a thorough investigation was being undertaken to ascertain details.

The company did not provide details or disclose the number of casualties.

(Writing by Abhirami G in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

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** Shares of Vedanta VDAN.NS and Hindalco HALC.NS climb 2.6% and 3%, respectively - top gainers on metals index .NIFTYMET

** JPMorgan upgrades VDAN and HALC to "overweight" from "neutral," citing sustained strength in aluminium prices amid global supply risks due to the ongoing Iran war

** The Middle East conflict has put us on the edge of a bullish supply driven event horizon and recent smelter outages will likely last for months even after shipping through Strait of Hormuz eventually returns, says brokerage

** JPM sees attractive risk-reward into FY27 for VDAN and raises PT to 850 rupees from 680 rupees

** Adds, HALC expected to benefit from higher aluminium and copper prices and recovery at Novelis from FY27; PT raised to 1,125 rupees from 875 rupees

** Avg rating on VDAN at "buy" and HALC at "hold" - data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, VDAN up 17.5% and HALC up 7.7%; metals index gains 4.5%

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

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April 3 (Reuters) - Vedanta Ltd VDAN.NS:

• Q4 ZINC INDIA MINED METAL PRODUCTION UP 2% YOY

• STEEL SALEABLE PRODUCTION IN Q4 INCREASED 9% QOQ

• RECORD ANNUAL ALUMINA PRODUCTION UP 48% YOY AT 2,916 KT; ALUMINIUM AT 2,456 KT

• Q4 TOTAL ALUMINIUM PRODUCTION UP 2%

Further company coverage: VDAN.NS

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March 30 (Reuters) - Vedanta Ltd VDAN.NS:

• VEDANTA - SAYS STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITIES UNDER EVALUATION ARE EXPLORATORY AND PRELIMINARY

• VEDANTA - NO BINDING DECISIONS, DEFINITIVE AGREEMENTS, MATERIAL DEVELOPMENTS THAT REQUIRE DISCLOSURE

Source text: ID:nBSE3JZFNW

Further company coverage: VDAN.NS

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Adds details from the report and background

March 28 (Reuters) - India's Vedanta VDAN.NS will break up into five listed companies early next month under a years-long restructuring programme aimed at reducing debt, the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing an interview with Chairman Anil Agarwal.

A tribunal approved the oil-to-metals conglomerate's plan to split into five listed entities in December.

After the demerger, the company will operate as Vedanta Limited, housing its base metals business. Vedanta Aluminium, Talwandi Sabo Power, Vedanta Steel and Iron, and Malco Energy will be the four other entities.

The combined market capitalisation of the five companies would be much higher than the conglomerate's current $27 billion, Agarwal told FT.

A private parent company controlled by Agarwal will retain about half of the shares in each of the new entities, he said.

The plan, first floated in 2023, was opposed by the government which feared a break-up would hinder its ability to recover money owed.

Chief Financial Officer Ajay Goel, in an interview to Reuters in January, said Vedanta aims to list the four planned demerged units on Indian exchanges by the middle of May.

(Reporting by Preetika Parashuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

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March 23 (Reuters) - Vedanta Ltd VDAN.NS:

• DIVIDEND OF 11 RUPEES PER SHARE

• INTERIM DIVIDEND AMOUNTING TO 43 BILLION RUPEES

Further company coverage: VDAN.NS

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** Asian Energy Services ASIE.NS rises 3.6% to 279.8 rupees

** Energy and metal industry service provider says Vedanta VDAN.NS has extended validity of operation and maintenance contract of oil and gas processing facility, offshore platforms in Gujarat by another year

** YTD, ASIE down ~1.3%

(Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru)

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March 16 (Reuters) - Asian Energy Services Ltd ASIE.NS:

• EXTENSION OF OPERATION & MAINTENANCE CONTRACT BY VEDANTA

• O&M CONTRACT EXTENDED BY 1 YEAR TO MAR 31, 2027

Source text: ID:nBSE3bNmxW

Further company coverage: ASIE.NS

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.

March 14 (Reuters) - JSW Steel JSTL.NS, India's largest steelmaker by capacity, has secured a coking coal mining project in Mozambique, the company said in a statement late Friday, to ensure long-term supply of the key input for steel production.

The Mozambique project has 850 million metric tons of coking coal reserves and the mine will be developed in phases, as per the company statement.

"The first phase expected to be developed over the next two and a half years to produce 2.4 million tons per annum prime hard coking coal," the company said.

(Reporting by Shivangi Acharya; Editing by Stephen Coates)

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MUMBAI, March 13 (Reuters) - India's Vedanta VDAN.NS has accepted bids worth 25.75 billion rupees ($278.5 million) for three-year bonds, three bankers said on Friday.

The company will pay an annual coupon of 8.95% on this issue and had invited bids on Friday, they said.

The company did not reply to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on March 13

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 92.4540 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Sumana Nandy)

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MUMBAI, March 12 (Reuters) - India's Vedanta VDAN.NS plans to raise 30 billion rupees ($324.97 million) through a sale of three-year bonds, three bankers said on Thursday.

The company will pay an annual coupon of 8.95% on this issue and has invited bids on Friday, they said.

The company did not reply to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on March 12:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 92.3150 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

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By Chris Mfula and Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo

LUSAKA, March 10 (Reuters) - Zambia is courting global investors, including from the United States, as it aims to more than triple its copper output to 3 million metric tons by 2031, its mines minister said on Tuesday.

Africa's second-largest copper producer after Democratic Republic of Congo is seen as one of the countries Washington is keen to partner with as the U.S. escalates efforts to loosen China's grip on materials crucial to advanced manufacturing.

Zambia produced 890,346 tons of copper last year, missing an annual target of 1 million tons. The red metal is a key material in electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure vital for the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Zambian Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe said investment talks extend to various countries as part of a broader strategy to meet the 2031 target.

"The U.S. is part of it," he said, without providing details of specific discussions.

Negotiations between Lusaka and Washington are also underway for a more than $1 billion health aid deal that health advocates have warned links the money to mining access and has data-sharing risks.

HAS TO BE A WIN-WIN SITUATION FOR ZAMBIA AND INVESTORS

"There is nothing linked to anything," Kabuswe told Reuters when asked whether U.S. health funding will be linked to mining collaboration, adding: "Zambia is very mindful when seated on the table to do negotiations over any matter."

Kabuswe emphasized the importance of fair deals, adding that "investors must also take their share". "It has to be a win-win situation for Zambia and for the investors," he said.

In addition to copper, Zambia is also rich in cobalt, nickel, manganese, graphite, lithium and rare-earth elements.

Mining firms operating in Zambia include China's JCHX Mining 603979.SS, Canada's Barrick Gold ABX.TO and First Quantum Minerals FM.TO, India's Vedanta Resources VDAN.NS, United Arab Emirates' International Resources Holding and KoBold Metals, which is backed by U.S. investors.

(Writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Alexander Smith)

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March 2 (Reuters) - Vedanta Ltd VDAN.NS:

• DECLARED PREFERRED BIDDER FOR KARNAPODIKONDA BAUXITE BLOCK IN ODISHA

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: VDAN.NS

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