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MINES deputy minister Richard Musukwa says the government is determined to forge communicative linkages with the mining sector to ensure policies are well structured and more predictable. Meanwhile, Mopani Copper Mines scooped seven awards at the Zambia Chamber of Mines mining awards gala in Lusaka. Speaking at the second Zambia …

Lusaka-Zambia, Africa’s No.2 copper producer, plans to cut power supplies to mines by up to 30% as early as next week, after water levels at its hydro-electric projects dropped due to drought, industry sources said on Tuesday. The plan, still under discussion with the industry, will see state-run power company …

Coloured gemstones miner Gemfields earned $29.3-million from the sale of rubies mined at its Montepuez deposit, in Mozambique. The Aim-listed company’s fourth auction of rough rubies from Montepuez, saw 46 companies placing bids, with the auction realising an average price of $617/ct. The auction, which took place from June 16 …

LUSAKA – Zambia has asked Vedanta Resources’ Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) to delay the processing of copper concentrate it imported from Chile until it puts in place safety measures to avoid pollution, Zambia’s deputy minister of mines said on Thursday.KCM said on June 3 it had imported its first semi-processed copper …

Zambia has started rationing power supply to mines, an industry source said on Tuesday, as Africa’s second-biggest copper producer struggles to meet electricity demand. “They have given us a schedule indicating how much electricity they will supply to us at different times of the day due to the power shortage,” …

LUSAKA – Zambia, Africa’s No. 2 copper producer, plans to introduce a law banning the export of unfinished mineral products, minister of mines Christopher Yaluma said on Friday.“We want to curb the unnecessary export of unfinished mineral products. We need to get all exports to be beneficiated within the country and …

Namibia is finalising a deal with diamond producer De Beers that will see more of the gems cut and polished in the southern African country rather than abroad, newspaper The Namibian reported on Tuesday.A unit of Anglo American, De Beers operates a joint venture in Namibia with the government called Namdeb, …

THE Zambia Chamber of Mines says government’s revision of the economic growth target to 5.8 per cent is “too optimistic”. And the Chamber of Mines has continued to press government for the same royalty tax rate for all mines, rejecting a proposal to reduce royalties for underground mines to six …

FIRST Quantum Minerals says Zambia needs to come up with a stable tax regime that will encourage mining investments and exploration as the country faces prospects of falling ore grades. Matt Pascal, First Quantum’s director of operations, said Zambia faced falling ore grades compared with the Democratic Republic of Congo …

THERE have been a number of challenges in implementing the 2015 mining tax regime, says Zambia Revenue Authority commissioner general Berlin Msiska. And Msiska says there is an immoral aspect to tax avoidance, even if it might be said not to be illegal. Msiska said in an interview that tax …