Zambia’s largest copper mining operation, Konkola Copper Mines says it will not process the 5,000 tonnes of copper concentrate it imported from Chile until all parties are satisfied that there will be no adverse impact.
In a statement, KCM said it imported the concentrate because it is important for KCM to operate its smelter as close to design capacity as possible, in order to achieve maximum efficiency.
It said the design criteria of KCM’s Nchanga smelter requires high grade concentrate feed to function most efficiently which it said is not available in sufficient quantities in Zambia while several new mines ramp up to full capacity.
It said there is also a limited availability of suitable concentrates the region, which necessitates looking further afield.
‘In recent weeks Konkola Copper Mines has engaged in extensive consultations with stakeholders in relation to the importing of copper concentrates from Chile. KCM CEO, Mr Steven Din, recently met with Mr. Joseph Chewe, General Secretary of the Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) and other union leaders to brief them about the rationale for the concentrate imports. The other leaders came from the National Union of Mining and Allied Workers (NUMAW) and the United Mineworkers Union of Zambia (UMUZ),’ it said.
KCM said it is fully engaged with the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) and Mine Safety Department (MSD) in devising appropriate procedures to protect employees, communities and the environment.
‘KCM takes the health and safety of its employees, the surrounding communities and the environment very seriously,’ it said.
KCM should be monitored very closely. it is very clear that these people running the mines do not have any interest in the health of the miners. Miners lives are viewed as dispensable. This is all about profits and until the government and all interested parties show that they are serious about protecting Zambian lives, Zambia will continue to lose lives for nonsensical reasons
KCM has turned Zambia into an Importer of copper! What an insult to the Zambians heritage of being leaders in exporting copper.
When you have a tourist leader for a President this is what you get. Lungu should stay in the country and solve some of these utushimi which do not make any sense at all.
Why import copper concentrates? Why do we allow such things? Are we sure this not full of toxic waste? And someone is not getting a kick back to have this dumped in Zambia?
I’m not a Metallurgist, but why wasn’t the smelter designed to take in or process only locally available concentrates? Take for instance (though my example my not be compatible), Indeni was designed only to process a certain grade of crude oil from Middle East and not the crude from Angola. So we can’t import crude oil from Angola to have it processed at Indeni. How was the Nchanga smelter designed? Anyway I’m no expert but I’m seeing some holes in their planning and design or it’s a case where KCM are covering something
I am not a metallurgist either but the reason is that the mwenyes at KCM think they are too super smart to listen to Zambian metallurgists who know very well that concentrates on the Copperbelt have to be blended to smelt well. Nchanga concentrates have too much oxides and don’t smelt well on their own. That’s why KCM in the past had to buy concentrates from Mufulira. The mwenyes alienated all the other mines (FQM, CNMC, MCOM and Chibuluma South) by asking for ridiculous prices and not paying the final agreed prices. That’s why they cannot buy any concentrates from FQM and Mopani. Nobody wants to be shafted by mwenyes. But they now have to pay upfront to the Chileans!
@Buck teeth, you are spot on; I am metallurgist and quiet familiar with the operations of the nchanga smelter. The smelter is capable of treating any type of Concentrate from FQML, Mopani, Chibuluma South etc. The problem is that the mwenyes screwed all these companies and no one wants to do business with them. By the way, do you know that instead of refining the anodes produced from this smelter at nkana refinery to produce cathodes, KCM is exporting them to RSA?
I have heard that Indeni argument for ages even in South Africa. What stops Zambia, South Africa and Angola coming together to jointly build new refineries and pipelines from Luanda to say Mwininilunga or Ndola. In the long run Zambia and South Africa will get cheaper oil. Business is coming together to obtain mutual benefit from a venture
Shouldn’t have consultations taken place BEFORE they imported the stuff
That’s what a sensible company does, but not the mwenyes at KCM. They think that Zambia owes them. That’s why they continue to recklessly pollute Mushishima stream.
Why consult when you can simply grease the lazy one in State House and the minister in charge to look the other way!!
Didn’t PF block exporting of ‘soil’? Why import ‘soil’?
I am no metallugist either buy why import soil thousands and thousands of kilometres away for millions and millions of dollars (which is especially scarce) when you have you own soil which you banned from being exported very very near and priced in Kwacha????!!!
aLungu anabwela….where are you…olo mukali ku foti jemisoni?!
The explanation given is not convincing, considering that they claim to have invested in getting these mines running according to the mines they are operating. Like @The Chosen One notes, why implement a design that is incompatible with local realities? And why Chile? I always worry especially when we do not even consider the plights of our local men and women who are directly affected by possible unscrupulous behavior negatively.
Are you tell me KCM didn’t know the kind, quality and quantity of copper concentrates the smelter was being designed for? Ubufi!!!!!!!
The mwenyes at KCM are full of sh¡t. They plan impossible production schedules on paper and spend lots of mental energy scheming things like selling copper they do not even have. Their Konkola Deeps is another white elephant where no copper is being produced. The mwenyes are just traders. They spend all their energy on manipulating the markets instead of mining copper.
Buck Teeth and Chosen One,
You guys are spot on. You have posed questions..better than qualified metallurgists!
When I worked in Zambia in the mid-1980’s, routing of concentrates to the three smelters (Nkana/Mufulira/Luanshya) was done by Operation Centre in Kalulushi. They knew the grades of the concentrates the smelters were designed to treat and dictated how they had to be shipped to the 3 smelters to maintain the required feed grade, AND OPTIMISE PERFORMANCE. When KCM went to Outotec in Finland for a smelter design, the first question the vendor would have asked them was…THE FEED GRADE
Do not buy this bull s**i guys!
Hear…..hear….hear!!!
Maybe this is the ” value addition” our silly empty tins we excuse as leaders preach about when they are reading from speech notes they don’t understand…its no wonder First Quantum Minerals (FQM) is investing as much as $1.5 billion to develop a coal power plant in the eastern district of Botswana to supply electricity all the way to Solwezi.
They know that Zambians are not serious and reliable hence they bypassed Maamba Collieries which is capable of producing the same capacity …when are we going to wake up and start electing proper leaders with foresight and not drunkards who only see the next election.
It is skin cringing indeed…Zambians wake up from your docility and folly!!
The greatest enemy of Zambians are Zambians themselves. These Indians can’t do this in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. The Indians know Zambians are stup!d. You only need to give Yaluma or chikwanda something, that’s all. That’s why I will remain a supporter of FQM, because they are more genuine. If we had a good and strong leader, he would not have entertained the Indian nonsense. But wow unto Zambia.
As much as we despise Europeans, they are upfront with their endeavors. Plus the hide not their motives, Africans pretend like they do, but they do not. Indian investors I am sorry to say think they are better than the people that invented science, math and writing. It will only take a spark to bring us back to the Chinese level of prominence. Africans awaken.
The missing important point is that is that these Indians are importing TOXIC concentrates which will KILL Zambians and we dont want that.
Who will have to deal with the TOXIC waste long after the Indians have left with all the profits? It will be Zambians and we DONT want INDAN induced deaths!
If they can cheat on taxes, they will also cheat on concentrates, I am not buying their story. Tili ndwii as usual
Zambian leaders need to know that they have to have a commercial or business intelligence unit to secretly investigate what KCM is paying for the concentrates versus the real price. Who else is buying this and at what price? Otherwise KCM is overstating the import price to send money outside Zambia disguised as a cost of doing business. Zambian mining leaders need to research world markets to to understand the ins and outs of the marketplace. The Americans do that all the time to keep companies honest. It is the nature of all companies to reduce payments to their governments everywhere in the world. Just put in place a mitigating process.
Good point Sanity.
It is tantamount to money laundering!
Mr Agarwal is renowned for that.
My take on this nonsense is that we should learn a lesson. We should be careful who we accept as investors. Remember what the CEO of KCM said? These people are uninterested in this country. Only in their pockets! It is sad how low we have become as a nation. Leaders should set high standards.