The National Union of Miners and Allied Workers -NUMAW- has maintained that the situation at both Mopani copper Mines MCM and Konkola Copper Mines KCM is desperate as the mines are surviving on imports.
NUMAW National President Saul Simujika said KCM is only surviving on the Copper ore and concentrate imports from Congo as it is failing to meet in-house production. Government had taken over KCM from Vedanta through a liquidation route after a row over vedanta relations with key stakeholders over delays in paying local suppliers and accusations of tax dodging.
Earlier the MineWorkers Union of Zambia – MUZ – had described as shocking that KCM had denied their statement that the mine is failing to meet production targets and planning requirements when everything could be seen from their operations and output.
KCM provisional liquidator Celine Nair had earlier denied claims by three unions representing workers at the company and its subsidiaries that the mine was not meeting production and planning requirements.
This was after the Mine Workers Union of Zambia (MUZ), the National Union of Mining and Allied Workers (NUMAW), and the United Mine Workers of Zambia (UMUZ) issued a joint statement suggesting that employees of KCM subsidiaries, the Konkola Mineral Resources Limited (KMRL) and KCM SmelterCo Limited, were reporting for work without being assigned tasks.
Simujika has reiterated that there is no serious mining activities taking place at KCM adding that the mine is only surviving on concentrates from DRC and other regions.
NUMAW National President Saul Simujika has since appealed to government to stabilize the mining industry on the Copperbelt to revive the region’s economy.
The delay in finding a lasting solution for both KCM and Mopani Copper Mines has led to desperation with even some suppliers and union officials who are very much aware of the vedanta indiscretions making a U-turn to even call for the return of both Vedanta for KCM and Glencore for Mopani.
The continued failure by government to come up with short, medium and long term plans for the two Mines to continue operations with a potential of 500,000 tonnes in annual production has paralyzed business on the entire compperbelt. The two Mines have four locations in Kitwe, Mufulira, Chingola and Chililabombwe.
