USD 942M Kabanga Nickel Project Moves Closer to Implementation, FID Expected in 2026

Tanzania’s Kabanga Nickel Project, a mining and industrial investment valued at around USD 942 million, has moved closer to implementation after the Government and Lifezone Metals (NYSE: LZM) agreed on a project structure and turned their focus to finalising the refinery and beneficiation component.

The progress was announced by the Directorate of Presidential Communications, State House, on 9 June 2026, a day after a high-level briefing to President Samia Suluhu Hassan delivered by Keith Liddell, Founder and Executive Chairman of Kabanga Nickel Limited and Lifezone Metals (NYSE: LZM), together with Treasury Registrar Nehemiah Mchechu.

Both sides confirmed substantial progress, a common understanding on project structure, and an agreement on how beneficiation will be carried out inside Tanzania.

Preparations on the mining side are largely advanced. Efforts are now focused on finalising arrangements for the refinery and beneficiation component.

The project is expected to deliver benefits through local content participation, taxes, dividends, technology transfer and industrial development.

“It was an absolute honour to meet Her Excellency. She reaffirmed her commitment to the project and her support for advancing it under the agreed implementation plan,” Mr. Liddell said.

“The mine is coming. The beneficiation is coming. Be assured that we are working closely with Team Tanzania to deliver this project as quickly as possible,” he added.

“We have developed a structure that both the Government and investors are comfortable with. We are now working to finalise the remaining elements so that implementation can begin,” Mr. Mchechu said.

“These efforts are fully aligned with the vision of Her Excellency President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is keen to see this project move from negotiations to implementation,” he added.

“This is a game-changing project. Together with other strategic investments, it has the potential to accelerate Tanzania’s industrial transformation and long-term development goals,” he said.

About the Kabanga Nickel Project

The Kabanga Nickel Project is located in Ngara district, Kagera Region, in northwestern Tanzania, and is regarded as one of the world’s largest and highest-grade undeveloped nickel sulphide deposits.

It is held by Tembo Nickel Corporation Limited, in which Lifezone Metals (NYSE: LZM) owns 84% through Kabanga Nickel Limited, while the Government of Tanzania holds a non-dilutable 16% free-carried interest.

Lifezone took full ownership of Kabanga Nickel Limited in July 2025 after acquiring BHP’s 17% stake, and also controls 100% of the project’s offtake.

A feasibility study released in July 2025 reported proven and probable reserves of 52.2 million tonnes grading 1.98% nickel, 0.27% copper and 0.15% cobalt, supporting an 18-year mine life at an annual throughput of 3.4 million tonnes.

The study put the project’s after-tax net present value at about USD 1.6 billion, with an internal rate of return of 23.3% and capital costs of around USD 942 million, placing Kabanga in the first quartile of the global nickel cost curve.

Over its life, the mine is expected to produce 902,000 tonnes of nickel, 134,000 tonnes of copper and 69,000 tonnes of cobalt in intermediate form, generating an estimated USD 1.2 billion in royalties, fees, levies and duties and USD 2.4 billion in corporate income taxes for Tanzania, alongside about 1,090 direct jobs, most of them held by Tanzanians.

Beneficiation is planned at the Kahama multi-metal processing refinery in the Buzwagi Special Economic Zone in Shinyanga, using Lifezone’s Hydromet technology, which the company says offers lower energy use and emissions than conventional smelting.

Lifezone Metals (NYSE: LZM) is targeting a final investment decision in 2026, having raised USD 75 million in the second half of 2025 and secured a USD 60 million bridge facility, with the US International Development Finance Corporation having completed environmental and social due diligence on the project.