Lifezone Metals Picks Orion CMC as Equity Partner for $940M Kabanga Nickel Project

At the start of August 2026, Lifezone Metals (NYSE: LZM) announced that it has selected Orion Critical Mineral Consortium as a partner to develop the Kabanga Nickel Mining Project in Tanzania. The fact that Orion CMC has the sovereign backing of the US Development Finance Corporation and UAE L’IMAD Holding weighed heavily in the decision.

Although the terms of the deal have not been made public, it is known that Orion CMC is a consortium led by Orion Resource Partners, and the Consoritium will become an equity partner by injecting funds in return for shares in the venture. Standard Chartered was the lead deal arranger, and Orion was selected after a competitive process with many suitors. Lifezone also contracted Societe Generale to facilitate the loan component of the financing.

The Kabanga deposit is located in Northwestern Tanzania, near the border with Malawi. As part of the Project, Lifezone also plans to implement a refinery in Kahama. The plant will adopt Lifezone’s proprietary Hydromet Technology that significantly reduces the carbon emissions from the traditional smelting process. The Kahama refinery will have Barrick Gold’s Gold Mine as its neighbor inside the Bugwazi Special Economic Zone (#SEZ) in order to benefit from existing infrastructure.

The capital expenditure for operationalizing the Project is estimated at USD 940 million. Once in operation, Kabanga will output 350,000 tonnes of #nickel concentrate annually, with the possibility to recover cobalt and copper as well.

Currently, China dominates the global supply chain of nickel with huge investments in Indonesia, which accounts for nearly 60% of the global supply of nickel. Therefore, Kabanga will contribute to strengthening the supply chain resilience for the US. Actually, Orion CMC was created in 2025 in order to secure #CriticalMinerals around the world and was endowed with an initial funding of USD 1.8 billion.

The DFC has also not divulged its level of financing to Orion. However, it will be providing political risk insurance and is willing to extend a loan. As part of the derisking, the Government of Tanzania will maintain ‘a substantive share’ in the Project. Final Investment Decision is targeted for 1Q27, subject to regulatory approval.