By Obert Simwanza THE Zambia Chamber of Mines is elated by the government’s decision to peg the mineral royalty tax at nine per cent from the proposed 20 per cent in the 2015 national budget. The adjustment in the taxes is expected to end the long stand controversy between mining investors …

LUSAKA, ZAMBIA  – One of Africa’s largest copper mining companies, Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has joined with the Private Enterprise Programme Zambia (PEP-Z) to explore ways to include more local entrepreneurs in its supply chain. The two signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today, in which both organisations agreed to further …

LUSAKA – Barrick Gold Corp, the world’s biggest gold producer, said on Thursday it will not suspend operations at its Lumwana open-pit copper mine in Zambia now that the country’s government has reduced mining royalties.Zambia’s cabinet set the royalty tax rate for open-pit and underground mining at 9% on Monday. The corporate income …

LUSAKA – Zambia’s fiscal deficit will exceed the targeted 4.6% of gross domestic product in 2015 due to weaker copper prices and changes to the mining tax regime, a senior Treasury official said on Friday. Mike Masiye, the director of budget in the ministry of finance, said copper prices had collapsed …

By Obert Simwanza Zambia’s power utility company, ZESCO has awarded a Turkish transmission contractor a 15-month  contract to upgrade the 342Km Kafue Town Muzuma-Livingstone high voltage transmission line to 330 Kv from the current 220 Kv, a Turkish official has said. “The upgrade is Babcock’s first project of this magnitude …

By Hicks Sikazwe Mining operations on the Copperbelt were severely hit and disrupted by power outages caused by suspected faults at zesco substations in Kitwe and Luano. The supply that ceased around 19 hours on Monday running through to Tuesday has left after effects in the country’s key foreign exchange …

Mineral sands miner Base Resources has reported another solid quarter from its Kwale project, in Kenya, with heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) production up 24% over the previous quarter, from 166 000 t to 206 000 t.The miner said on Friday that a focus on debottlenecking the wet processing plant’s capacity had enabled …

Minister of Mines, Energy and Water Development, Christopher Yaluma, and his Commerce, Trade and Industry, counterpart Margaret Mwanakatwe, are expected to lead a high-level government delegation at the forthcoming Copperbelt Mining Trade Expo & Conference (CBM-TEC),  scheduled for May 5-6 in Kitwe. More than 1800 participants including visitors, exhibitors and …

By Hicks Sikazwe Collum coal mine in Sinazeze, Southern province shut in 2013 for poor safety standards has been opened with a warning to Chinese management to adapt to local culture to avoid conflict. President Edgar Lungu threatened government would withdraw the operating license if the firm did not comply …

By Obert Simwanza The Zambia Council for Social Development (ZCSD) has said that the proposed amendments to the controversial mining taxes will adversely affect the estimated revenue from the 2015 national budget. ZCSD executive director Lewis Mwape said that his organisation had maintained that the 2015 budget was a disaster …