The Ministry of Mines has refused to confirm or deny if First Quantum Minerals – FQM has been awarded a nickel mining license following the company announcement that it will begin nickel production in kalumbila district of the Copperbelt in the next twelve (12) months.
FQM announced at the recently Cape Town held Mining Indaba that it will be opening a nickel mine in Kalumbila with an additional investment of $100 million to the $250 million enterprise Nickel mine which will bring the total to $350 million. The mine is expected to hit an annual production of 30,000 tons per annum and revenues of over $800m at current nickel prices.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business times – ZBT, Minister of Mines Paul Kabuswe said he could not give out what he termed as office details. The Minister however said when FQM announced to the government that it approved the investment, it meant that the programme is on and it was also approved by President Hakainde Hichilema.
Kabuswe further stated that the ministry of mines can amend mining licenses once the holder discovers new minerals that they feel should be included in the license. When asked if FQM will have to amend or buy a new license in this matter, the Minister said he would not go into those details adding that the announcement of nickel mining at Kalumbila has been made and it was not a a lie.
The Ministry of Mines has suspended the issuing of mining licenses and announced that measures are being put in place to improve the system. The projected or targeted timelines for resuming the issuance of mining licenses is yet to be made public.
Efforts to get an estimation of how much a nickel mining licence for an anticipated 30,000 tons annual production would fetch to acquire from the ministry of mines proved futile by time of publishing.
