Mfeki Makai, CEO of KoBold Metals Africa, will participate in the African Mining Week (AMW) in Cape Town, which will be held from 14 to 16 October. MacKay’s participation will focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and its role in mineral exploration across the continent.
KoBold is a mineral exploration company based in California. It is backed by several prominent investors, including Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. The company uses AI-based modeling to speed up timelines and reduce labor costs.
According to a press release, MacKay will outline KoBold’s deployment of its data modeling platform to “explore de-risking and accelerate project development.”
In Zambia, KoBold is already developing the US$2.3 billion Mingumba copper project, which it says supports the country’s efforts to raise annual copper production to three million tons by 2031. The company is also working with the Burundian government to digitize geological data sets and apply artificial intelligence to nickel, copper and cobalt. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, KoBold said it plans to invest more than US$1 billion in the Manono lithium project, one of the world’s largest hard rock deposits. MacKay is expected to update delegates on these initiatives.
Its participation in AMW comes as the Zambian Miners’ Union and the South African Labor Research Service warn that artificial intelligence could marginalize low-skilled workers, despite the benefits of exploration. These discussions are likely to follow the industry to Cape Town, and may resurface when AMW 2026 begins.
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