KoBold Metals, the mining firm backed by US billionaires Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, has started development of its Mingomba copper project in Zambia, targeting production in the early 2030s, its Africa CEO told Reuters on Wednesday. Zambia, Africa's second-largest copper producer after Democratic Republic of Congo, aims to more than triple its copper output to three-million metric tons by 2031, and projects like Mingomba are central to meeting this goal."We've started mine development," KoBold Metals Africa CEO Mfikeyi Makayi said. "We're now full swing into our permitting process for us to get approvals to ... (full story)