Lusaka, Tuesday, 18th June 2024
Finance and National Planning Minister Dr SITUMBEKO MUSOKOTWANE says the policies and strategies which the Zambian Government is implementing to improve the performance of the mining sector, and enhance its contribution to the economy, are sufficiently robust to help the country to regain its top spot as a copper mining leader in Africa.
Dr Musokotwane said this when Barrick Lumwana Country Manager ANTHONY MALENGA paid a courtesy call on him in Lusaka, today.
Mr. MALENGA informed the Minister that following the soon-to-be-completed feasibility works, the 2 billion United States Dollars Lumwana supper-pit expansion project will commence in 2025 with a workforce of approximately two-thousand five-hundred (2, 500).
“In the intervening period, we will continue to ramp-up production and hope to reach two hundred and-forty-thousand (240, 000) metric tons per annum when the new mine comes on-stream in 2028” Mr. MALENGA said.
“I am very excited with the progress of mineral exploration works at Lumwana and in other parts of the country commented the Minister, adding that, the journey to attainment of the national copper production target of three (3) million tons per annum by 2023, requires everybody in the copper mining sector to contribute in a consistent manner. That is why as Government, we will also continue to embrace and implement what it takes to regain our copper mining leadership in Africa.
In addition to mine expansion, Lumwana is implementing an important corporate social responsibility programme in form of a Business Accelerator Programme aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of Zambian contractors in the supply chain. The intervention is tailored to assist locals to grow, diversify, and ensure business sustainability beyond the lifespan of the Barrick Lumwana Mine in Zambia. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is Africa s leading Copper producer, recording an annual production of approximately 2.5 million metric tons, in 2023.
HIGH-LEVEL DEBT MANAGEMENT FACILITY (DMF) FORUM 19-20 JUNE, 2024, LIVINGSTONE, ZAMBIA
And finance and National Planning Minister Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane says Zambia will host the 14th Debt Management Facility (DMF) stakeholder’s forum, in Livingstone, Zambia, titled “Debt Management for Resilience: Adapting to Changes and Challenges,” Under the auspices of the world Bank, in Livingstone Zambia. The Forum aims to discuss the current debt landscape and opportunities to tackle these issues. The forum will be structured in eight (8) sessions.