Zambia will own some mining permits after mapping exercise
Zambia’s government intends to keep ownership of some mining licenCes that are shown to be promising by an ongoing mapping exercise and invite private investors to develop the assets alongside the State.
Africa’s second-biggest copper producer is pursuing ambitious plans to more than quadruple the metal’s output by the beginning of next decade. This increase will require companies to transform multiple exploration projects into operating mines. The government is currently funding an aerial geophysical survey to zero in on the best areas.
The state has set up a special purpose vehicle to push along investment, Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe said at a conference in the capital Lusaka on Wednesday. Some of the areas identified by the mapping “will be licensed within the SPV itself,” which will then approach partners about commercial arrangements for exploration and mining, he said.
In one possible scenario floated by the minister, the state company would have a 45% interest in a joint venture.
Subsidiaries of First Quantum Minerals and Barrick Gold Corporation produce most of Zambia’s copper, accounting for about two-thirds of output last year, according to government data.
Without going into detail about the state’s financial participation in the proposed joint ventures, the licenses on offer “must be taken as capital,” Kabuswe had said at the same event earlier. “Our contribution as a nation is what we discovered on that tenement because we’ve already put money in through mapping.”
The mines ministry and an industry group last week said they had resolved differences over a draft law that would have potentially given the state a bigger share of new mining projects.
Other investors in Zambia’s mining sector include Bill Gates-backed KoBold Metals, Abu Dhabi’s International Resources Holding, China Nonferrous Mining Corp. and Vedanta Resources Ltd.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Supplier & Distributor of the Widest Range of Accurate & Easy-to-Use Alcohol Breathalysers
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
