The total Copper production at Konkola Copper Mines – KCM two Mines located at Nchanga in Chingola and Konkola at Chililabombwe has dropped by about 24%.
Permanent secretary at the Ministry of Mines Barnaby Mulenga has disclosed that there has been a reduction in production at Konkola Copper Mines – KCM following its pending liquidation process with Vedanta.
Mulenga said the company has not been operating on a full scale capacity as normal production which includes underground mining has not been resumed hence affecting its production volumes.
He told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT in an exclusive interview on May 8, 2020, that KCM had in the first of quarter [Q1] of 2020 produced a total of 15,715 tonnes of copper compared to 20,596 produced in the first quarter of the previous year 2019 attributing the decrease to the current incomplete operations at the mines.
“Production at KCM has gone down because the company is still under the liquation process. In January KCM produced 5,406 tons, February production was 4,496 tons and 5,800 tons in March 2020 while April reports have not yet been submitted. All these figures have recorded reductions and once production gets back to normal things will stabilize again,” he told ZBT.
He added that the Konkola deep mining project is also pending and once full operations resume the company is expected to starting mining ore at Konkola deep.
Concerning the remitting back of export proceeds which the former owners Vedanta were accused of not doing, Mulenga said export proceeds under the current liquidation team will be remitted back to Zambia to enable KCM properly run its operations and pay salaries to its workers.
When asked for the current update on the case with Vedanta, Mulenga could not share more information stating that the matter is still in court hence awaits final update.
Meanwhile, commenting on the current economic challenges and the threat of Covid -19, Mulenga said the mining sector has not been spared from effects of the pandemic as seen from some mining companies who are reviewing their production level for the year 2020.
He said Zambia being a player on global market is among the affected countries due to lock downs in some countries, hence government has put in place measures to enable the mining sector mitigate the negative impacts being faced amidst covid – 19.
“We do not know how long this [covid 19 pandemic] will take and some companies have complained to us on how they are even failing to get supplies, however we are in discussions with the ministry of commerce on the matter to ensure the private sector is given a lift and that we support them in this crisis,” He added.
The government of Zambia through its mining investments arm, ZCCM IH instituted liquidation action that saw Indian firm, Vedanta lose its ownership of KCM. Vedanta, who had claimed that they had never made any profits in over 15 years of their operating the two mines however turned back and are currently legally contesting the loss of their ownership stake.
The move to liquidate KCM and get rid of Vedanta was welcomed by local mine suppliers, employees and the powerful mine workers union who accused the Indian owners of failing to run the copper mines.
