Jubilee Metals has selected a preferred buyer for its Large Waste Project in Zambia as it redirects capital towards existing mining and processing operations that it says require less investment and carry lower development risk.The buyer, the name of which the company did not disclose, offered $35m for the project after the company received two binding offers. The sale follows the company’s decision to move away from developing the large greenfield project and instead expand its existing Zambian operations, including the Molefe mine.The Large Waste Project comprises about 240-million tonnes of copper-bearing surface material left behind by historical mining activity. Jubilee had been developing methods to separate and process the material to recover copper.Jubilee acquired the Large Waste Project for $18m after agreeing to the deal in 2025, and finalised the purchase this month.The decision to sell comes after Jubilee had spent more than a year assessing how to develop the project, including resource work, processing trials and discussions with potential partners. Earlier this year, the company was still considering a joint venture to fund and develop the project.Jubilee said the Large Waste Project would require significant standalone capital because it is a greenfield development. It now plans to put the proceeds towards its existing Zambian operations, which can make use of infrastructure already in place and require less capital to expand.The company has previously identified the Molefe Mine as a key area for expansion and has been working towards establishing an on-site copper processing facility there. Jubilee said the existing operations offered a lower-capital and lower-execution-risk route to increasing copper production.The sale is subject to due diligence and the signing of final transaction documents. Jubilee expects the initial review to take about 10 days, after which the buyer can secure a further 45-day exclusivity period by paying $2.25m.The $35m will not be paid upfront, with the balance due over three years. The buyer can settle within two years, but the total payment would fall to $30m. Jubilee said it was satisfied that the buyer had the ability to pay.The deal replaces an earlier agreement to sell 10-million tonnes of waste from the project for $6.75m. About 550,000 tonnes had been collected under that agreement, generating about $600,000 in payments to Jubilee.Business Day