OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
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Z ambia has a breath-taking endowment of minerals , from minor metals , gemstones and uranium to industrial minerals .” That is the glowing assessment of Zambia ’ s mining panorama from the President of the country ’ s Chamber of Mines , Goodwell Mateyo . However , he concedes the sector has largely been dominated by copper production with its fortunes tied up in the trends of ownership .
“ The sector was in the hands of private capital up until 1969 when a decision was made to nationalise ,” recalls Mateyo . “ Subsequent to that we saw copper production fall from a high of close to 800,000 tonnes prior to nationalisation to a low of 280,000 tonnes of copper produced per annum before privatisation returned in 2000 . Since then mines have come back into private hands and this production has seen an uptick thanks to significant foreign investment – our estimate is for total copper production to have reached 820,000 tonnes at the end of 2018 . However , there has been little diversification into other minerals .”
It ’ s that need to diversify , coupled with what many miners see as crippling tax increases , which Mateyo believes is holding back the sector in Zambia from realising the full potential of Central Africa ’ s Copperbelt . New
APRIL 2019