by Heather Friesen and Mfikeyi Makayi
Edmond Similindi grew up in Siambala, a village near Kalomo in Zambia’s Southern Province, where life revolved around farming and livestock. From a young age, he was herding goats, cattle, and sheep, milking and dipping animals, and working the fields during maize and soya bean seasons. It was a childhood that built responsibility, discipline, and a work ethic that would later define his engineering career.
At 13, after completing Grade 9, Edmond moved to Chililabombwe in the Copperbelt to live with his uncle and continue his education. The Copperbelt is synonymous with mining, but pathways for young engineers to break into world-class exploration have historically been few. Even as he adapted to new surroundings, Edmond stayed connected to his roots, spending school holidays on his uncle’s farm in Lufwanyama — a connection to rural Zambia that persisted through university and as recently as late 2025.
Edmond graduated from Copperbelt University with a degree in Mechanical and Railway Power Systems Engineering and joined KoBold’s internship programme in 2024. He made an immediate impact. His focus, natural curiosity, and quiet determination set him apart from the start. He dove into his project on drilling efficiencies, working to improve equipment reliability and troubleshoot downhole challenges — the unglamorous, critical work that keeps rigs turning. Within a year, he had progressed from intern to drilling engineer on the Global Drilling Team.
And then KoBold sent him to Australia to one of our global projects, so he can return to Zambia with more knowledge and exposure. A young man who grew up herding cattle in Southern Province, deployed to Bulloo Downs in outback Australia, is working alongside a Senior Field Operations Manager on the rehabilitation of six drill pads and approximately 30 km of access tracks. Not observing — operating. Edmond got behind the controls of an excavator, ran pre-start inspections, and built practical troubleshooting skills you can only learn by doing the work yourself.
Edmond isn’t slowing down. His colleagues describe him as someone who shows up, asks the right questions, and puts in the work to understand every piece of equipment he touches. He is building the deep, cross-continental experience that defines a future leader.