Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s leading gold and copper producer, planned to accelerate the expansion at its Lumwana copper mine in Zambia, aiming to start the first production in 2028.

According to the expansion project, Barrick Gold targeted to transform the Lumwana copper mine into one of the world’s largest copper mines, raising the annual production capacity to 240,000 tons within its life of more than 30 years.

With an estimated cost of nearly US$2 billion, the construction was scheduled to begin by the end of this year, and a comprehensive feasibility study would also be carried out by the year-end.