Africa’s accelerating adoption of artificial intelligence in mineral exploration and mining operations will be a central thread in the programme of African Mining Week 2026, organisers said this week, pointing to concrete deployments under way in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Ghana, Botswana, and Burundi.
African Mining Week, billed as the continent’s most influential mining forum, is scheduled to run at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from 14 to 16 October 2026 under the theme “Mining the Future: Critical Resources, Sustainability and Community Development.” The 2026 programme includes a dedicated panel, Leveraging Advanced Technologies and AI to Transform Mining Practices for Sustainable Growth, that will bring together technology providers, investors, project developers, and regulators.
DRC leads on AI exploration
The DRC, one of Africa’s most resource-rich jurisdictions, has positioned AI at the centre of its exploration strategy. Speaking at last year’s AMW, Louis Watum Kabamba, the country’s Minister of Mines, said AI-enabled exploration has the potential to reduce resource-discovery timelines to under three years, and that the government is working to unlock 90 per cent of DRC’s geology and more than US$24 trillion in untapped mineral value.
Recent deployments back the rhetoric. In February 2026, the DRC partnered with Xcalibur Smart Mapping to use advanced geospatial solutions for mapping critical minerals and lowering exploration risk. The country is also working with US-based startup KoBold Metals to apply AI-driven techniques at the Mingomba Lithium Mine.
Zambia, Ghana, Botswana, and Burundi
The trend extends beyond DRC. KoBold Metals is also applying AI at Zambia’s Mingomba Copper Project to identify high-grade deposits, backing the government’s push to lift annual copper output to three million tonnes by 2031. Burundi has partnered with KoBold and Lifezone Metals to digitise its geological database and assess the 140-million-tonne Musongati Nickel Project.
In Ghana, the Ghana Gold Board and the Ghana Geological Survey Authority are using AI-assisted mineral prospectivity modelling across the Funsi, Atuna, and Bensere East concessions, aligning with a national drive to expand gold reserves and production.
Botswana is using the same tool-set to diversify away from diamonds. Botswana Minerals has identified eight new copper deposits through AI-powered exploration, accelerating the country’s move into critical minerals.
The capital pitch
The underlying economic pitch is large. Organisers estimate Africa sits on $8.5 trillion in untapped mineral resources, and point to the continent’s 30 per cent share of global critical minerals at a moment when demand is projected to triple by 2030. AI’s role, AMW’s 2026 programming suggests, is to compress exploration cycles, reduce the cost of de-risking ground, and tighten operational efficiency once mines are producing.
African Mining Week 2026 is organised by Energy Capital & Power. Registration and the latest programme updates are available via the event’s website.
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