CHILUBI Minerals Limited has discovered copper and gold deposits in Chilubi-Luwingu districts in Northern Province which have the capacity of creating 10,000 jobs for local people.
Chilubi Mineral Limited managing director Mulenga Kafwilo said in Kitwe yesterday that the historical discovery follows chemical analysis the firm conducted on the rock sample that was picked from its Bangweulu Copper Project.
Mr Kafwilo, who is assisted by co-director Victor Chomba, said the robust project will not only create thousands of jobs, but also spur rapid development in various sectors of the economy and improve living standards for the rural people.
He said the area is also rich in cobalt and manganese, and that his company is open to work with suitable foreign investors to exploit the copper and gold deposits to help in transforming the country’s economy.
“This is the first ever discovery of copper and gold by an indigenous company. It is an exciting discovery because it will create a lot of jobs for local people. It will also bring rapid development in that rural part of the country.
“Geologically, Northern Province has a vast mineral resource endowment and merits one of the most important and complex metallotects in Zambia, hosting amazingly, various deposits, containing economic veins, which are still untapped,” Mr Kafwilo said.
He said the copper and gold deposits that have been discovered were similar to Australia’s Olympic Dam deposit in nature with enormous potential to transform the Zambian economy if fully developed.
“Our exploration efforts on the Bangweulu Copper Project was focused on the search for Copperbelt-style sediment-hosted deposit, but instead resulted in this historical discovery of copper-gold deposits,” Mr Kafwilo said.
Chilubi Minerals Limited is an exploration and mining company, currently working out plans to revive an old open cast mine which has been discovered within the project area.
I would take this discovery with a pinch of salt. Sounds like conmen.
With all the vast resources why is Zambia still very poor? If Europeans were running the country it would be such a different place. Selfishness by leaders has ruined that country, such a shame!
“currently working out plans to revive an old open cast mine which has been discovered within the project area”
Now one would think an open cast mine “discovery” is the eye blinking bit. Who has been mining in the project area? Is it an old find or a new one? Kinda like how the game parks are full of fake “resorts”…
@Nameless please remain just that nameless. So what of Botswana is it run by your former slavemasters the Europeans?
Was Chilubi Minerals company formed before or after discoveries of copper and Gold?
Is that company owned by PF government to start talking about transforming Zambia, before those two guys transform themselves? For sure they sound like RB boys, conmen.
If the discovery is true then good for the country. Some Provinces & districts will stop being only exporters of migrant labour to Lsk, CB & now NWP. Population will be evenly spread unlike concentrated in LSK, CB & now Solwezi to an extent where indigenous settlers (Lambas, Lenjes, Kaondes, Solis etc) are choked & displaced. I just hope when most jobseekers from across Zambia settle in Luwingu the NP/Luwingu indigenous will be as accommodating as the others have been.
Good one for the local Boys. Hope the can attract the right financiers
I suppose the seat of the headquarters of that company will enjoy massive development while the locals where the source of the minerals is will be groveling in dust and poverty. The Zambia development model is unlike any I have seen since the fall of commandist leanings…
This copper/ gold discover is the Chama Chakomboka, it takes a lot of work to discover a economical mined deposit. You Just do not pick a rock float and carry chemical analysis what exploration work have they done to come up to this conclusion. They need to carry out geochemical exploration thus soil sampling, drilling both rc and diamond, if possible geophysics this takes years of hard work and spend colossal amount of money. The best they can do is to seek assistance from the chambers of mine or geological survey of Zambia.
Ba pio
These are not jerabos like you who would pick up a sprite bottle glass piece and say I ‘ve emerald. They are experts in this field and the fact that they are zambians should not make you think that they know nothing. That’s why it has taken as this far to develop because of people like you who thinks a white man is superior. If you don’t want to be part of development wait for 2050 when your candidate becomes president .
@Spong Bob: You have impressed me with your sentiments. Some people are too openly full of skin inferiority complex that they have even given up on their handwork. They are a type who think anything “White is cool, anything black is evil”. They are a type who always look for a reason to be led and never to lead. They are a type so negative about their own and ever positive about the rest. They are the Thembaz of this world who have changed their African names to the Western ones not knowing how much it hurts to have a name one can never be proud of. They do not know that we have a lot of people yearning to come back to this place they call home and claim their pride. Let me rest my case – in disappointment over their sentiments, whilst getting so well consoled by your sentiments -…
Well said Pio. From the way the results were obtained, it leaves much to be desired. One rock sample(probably a float) and they have generated a resource, practically impossible. Let them tabulate there exploration activities on how they came up to discover the deposit.
Better still let them approach ZCCM-IH, they now have a technical department that can can help them with expertise and tech support.
IF YOU HAVE BEEN IN A MINING CLASS YOU WILL SEE THAT THESE GUYS KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT.
PROBLEM WITH US ZAMBIANS IS WE EXPERTS IN EVERYTHING AND MASTERS IN NOTHING…..
Where is GRZ?
@Sponge bob, please read again my little contribution on the above discovery, I have not mentioned any muzungu or white man but the procedures used to arrive at this point. You can not just pick rock samples and tell the nation that you have minerals of economic importance. The existence of orebodies with outcrop at the surface are generally known and are being mined. geologist are presently looking for ore deposits that do not necessarily outcrop at the surface, because they are hidden by recent sediments or other rocks. to find these deposits geologists must employ sophisticated techniques such as remote sensing, soil geochemistry, geophysics and diamond drilling. Use exploratory drilling programmes and appropriate geostatistical methods to calculate the tonnage of ore which cab be…
Blame LT for not publishing the technical process of mineral exploration . Are you telling me that a reporter would go to such depth as in explaining everything to the public. At least not at online medium maybe at ministry of mines or lecture theatres where you belong. The bottom line is what they ‘ve shared in the article.
Results from one rock sample which they bumped in by chance and you rush to the roof top of your house to announce the mineral discovery. The accurate way is the one mentioned by Pio above and not by the method from Wusakile scavengers.
As long as we don’t add value to our raw materials, we’ll get a raw deal. Every car has an average of 40Kg of copper in it which most likely came from Zambia. It’s been sold back to us 5 times what we sold to them.
Mining provides plenty low income jobs. But Manufacturing gives plenty high paying jobs and adds more to the GDP.
Just analyse this: a 1Kg pack of Corn-flake is the same price as a 25kg bag of mealie-meal. Kellogs pays their workers better than the farmer. Kellogs also provides other jobs to supporting industries e..g. packaging, distribution, retail, advertising etc.
Same with copper: Zamefa has higher profit % than mines & their employees’ salaries are better than that of ba shi-mine.
Vultures are already busy sharpening their nails. God, help us.
Please LT dont publish such stupid stories from vyamba smokers, where is the lab (photoz), what about their HQ, and even the same masketeers show us their pictures
We do agree that many parts of the country have mineral resources that have yet to be discovered. However as Pio as noted the process of exploration takes alot of time and resources (financial,material and human expertise) to arrive at some of the conclusions they have made in this article. Those who have been to Luapula,Northern and Muchinga Provinces know that there are unquantified deposits of various minerals mentioned in various places. This find may just be one of the indicators of the presence of the mentioned minerals but does not sound detailed enough to warrant expectations to open the mines yet. One downside with every mineral discovery especially copper is that it will push us away alot further from creating manufacturing industries,agriculture,tourism and thus away from…
@Zambia ni yatu: For a company to have been given Mineral exploration rights, it means they have what it takes to do the needful. They should know the implications of not protecting the areas of interest if they rushed to announcing the same. The belt so rich in minerals runs from Angola through North Western into our neighboruing Congo and the Copperbelt. Why is it so impossible for you to believe that it would extend through Mukushi and into the other parts of the Northern parts of Zambia? What if the some of the workforce working for this exploration organization has root’s in giants like FQML? Would you believe it? Fwaizo but kanizo? Would you only say they were right when the discovered they same under FQML and not under their new organisation? Mmmm …just a thought?
continued.. from diversifying the economy.
Well said Pio. One can not just pick up a rock(probably a float) and come up with a report and resource. Better to tabulate your exploration results stage by stage, then finally publish your inferred resource. I think the area needs further exploration work before figures can be thrown around, especially in the media. Let them approach ZCCM-IH for assistance, they have a Technical Department with the necessary expertise in all mining related areas.
I am geologist and it sad to note that all the same useless bloggers claim to be masters of everything.
To all who thought Luapula and Northern have nothing to offer in terms of revenue you will be shocked in 5 or 10 years time.
People of Luapula and Northern are not as hostile as their counterparts are in NWP where chiefs comes up with databases to employ people only from their regions. That’s why I like lamba chiefs because they have accommodated all tribes unlike their counterparts in NWP whose courtesy to other tribes is because of pressure from the mining owners to employ people they feel like can do the job
@CCN,fully agree with you!People like @neutral will be shocked indeed!! The people from Luapula,Northern and Muchinga and indeed those from provinces who are more outgoing and take risks to improve their livelihoods are not hostile because there is mobility in their culture. So they will welcome whoever will go there to work because they too have some of their relatives elsewhere and they have naturally been accomodating and less worried about where some one comes from.One of the things that held back development of mines in these provinces is power supply and bad road network these are improving and things will change indeed. Who ever thought 30 years ago NWprovince would be the new CB? Let us wait and see!!
@Zonda uzalema,the issue is not that those announcing the discovery are Zambians. The concern is with the manner the “discovery” has been reported. The article likens the discovery to Australia’s Olympic Dam and is already deemed to be capable of creating 10,000 jobs? Such claims are supposed to be backed by verifiable data explaining how they arrived at this. We all know we are connected to same mineral belts with DRC that is why the mines on the copperbelt and the DRC mirror each other but exciting news in times of economic trouble needs to be backed by facts. I have confidence in Zambian mining experts some of who are world class offering expertise even to advanced countries but we need facts to support claims.
@ Zambia is ours, true my brother! Those arguing have no idea about geology and how we come up with resource estimation. We do airborne survey, carry out soil geochem, trenching, pitying and drilling both DD or RC. The data that company has collected cannot just be exposed everywhere. It is confidential and only deserving investors or partners can access such data. We do define models based on the findings such as style of occurrences, alterations, hosting rocks etc. Mind you anti bembas, we do not harbor hatred. We have called monkeys etc. Luapula, Northern and Muchinga are friendly and outgoing people. When the mine comes to actualization, the mines will be for all Zambians unlike certain tribes who are so selfish and tribal and they know themselves
Foreign Investors,what about doing it yourself,always investors,investors,investors,shame on you Zambians.
Analysis of one grab sample ati mine yaoneka. 10,000 Jobs apa. Kwi? Kafwilo stop masquerading as a geologist.