Vedanta Resources Limited the parent company of Konkola Copper Mines –KCM says the road map for the full operations of KCM awaits the conclusion of the scheme of arrangement which is a court process to approve payments that will be made to creditors.
The Zambian Government through the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Limited – ZCCM-Investment Holdings and Vedanta Resources Limited signed a shareholders and implementation agreement on the running of Konkola Copper Mines last year with expectations that productions will commence in the first month of 2024.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, on when the Company is moving on-site, Vedanta Resources Limited Corporate Communications Director, Masuzyo Ndhlovu, said there are still some processes that are ongoing and the company is still waiting for the process to conclude before moving on-site to commence operations.
Ndhlovu said The next step to follow after the signing of two agreements is the Court process to do with the scheme of arrangement. “Of course, this is a court process that is about payments to creditors which have to be approved through court processes.”
“So once all those things are done it will entail withdrawing of the Provisional Liquidator(PL) as a new Board will be appointed to give policy and strategic direction to KCM and once that is done it will be a signal that the board will now appoint a management team that will run KCM then Vedanta will start operations or effectively start running KCM.”
Ndhlovu said, “But as it is now, we are still in that transition period and we are yet to conclude on all those issues that I have mentioned. We are hoping that by January, we will be able to conclude on all those issues.”
Asked about the production target in the 1st year of running, Ndhlovu said, “It is difficult to tell at this point as there are a lot of factors at play such as modernizing machinery, completion of the works on the Konkola Deep Mine (KDMP) shaft 4 with the installation of the pump chamber at 1390ml (meter level) in short do due diligence on the entire asset and that will roughly give us figures or forecast on the production levels. At the moment we are relying on a report done by a Technical Advisor Hatch. There will certainly be a need for another audit or due diligence report because you have to look at the state of machinery which needs to be upgraded so that you can produce much more. So I feel that it will be premature for me at this stage to say anything about productions looking at different factors.”
Asked about the hatch report, Ndhlovu said the report will as stated by the Minister of Mines and Minerals Development, be made public after all processes are concluded.
