Relationships between the extractive industries, society and development are often symbolized by unfulfilled expectations and even conflict with the poor, rural, politically marginalized and indigenous communities who commonly face the greatest impacts from the extraction of energy and non-energy minerals. This paper explores the challenge of resource-led development in Zambia’s ‘New Copperbelt’ (Northwestern Province) and demonstrates how Kansanshi, a mid-tier mining company, has tackled various community development aspects; from resettlement and compensation, hiring and employment, as well as local government interactions, to formulating a corporate social responsibility (CSR) and infrastructure project strategy. The case study is based primarily on interviews with relevant stakeholders and the collected data were analyzed using an inductive approach. Findings suggest that community capacity to hold Kansanshi and local government to account is relatively weak. Recommendations for strengthening corporate and government accountability include aligning CSR strategies with district, regional and national development objectives, as well as building linkages between local civil society organizations (CSOs) and national/international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to enable communities around the mine to share experiences, lessons learned, and effective company and local government engagement strategies.