Thursday, March 28, 2024

ZCCM-IH to appeal against the Lusaka High Court judgment delivered in favour of First Quantum Minerals

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ZCCM Investments Holdings Plc (ZCCM-IH) has said that the company intends to appeal against the Ruling of the Lusaka High Court delivered on 23 March 2020 regarding a matter the firm commenced in 2016, against First Quantum Minerals Limited (FQM Ltd), FQM Finance Limited, Philip Pascall, Arthur Mathias Pascall, Clive Newall, Martin Rowley, and Kansanshi Mining Plc.

In a statement released to the media, ZCCM-IH said that the defendants’ conduct, allegedly, among others, that the defendants on several occasions fraudulently engaged in transactions totaling in excess of $2 billion for the benefit of the FQM Group, is detrimental to ZCCM-IH’s interests and those of the nation, and remained committed to protecting the said interests, adding that it will be appealing against the Ruling.

In 2016, ZCCM-IH started the process of claiming up to $1.4 billion from First Quantum Minerals Ltd accusing the firm of engaging in fraud. The claim included $228 million in interest on $2.3 billion of loans that ZCCM-IH said First Quantum wrongly borrowed from the Kansanshi copper mine, as well as 20 percent of the principal amount, or $570 million, according to an internal company presentation, dated Nov. 4, 2016.

ZCCM-IH is also seeking $260 million as part of a tax liability the Zambia Revenue Authority said Kansanshi owed it, as well as the cost of the mine borrowing money commercially that ZCCM-IH said could have been avoided.

In papers filed in the Lusaka High Court on Oct. 28 2016, ZCCM-IH said that First Quantum used the money as cheap financing for its other operations.

ZCCM-IH is triple listed on 3 stock exchanges: the Lusaka Securities Exchange (Primary listing) and on the London Stock Exchange and the Euronext Access (Paris – Marche Libre) (Secondary Listings).

Government holds directly 17.25% shares and its 60.28% shares is held through the Industrial development Corporation (IDC) in Zambia, with the remaining 22.47% held by institutional and private individual shareholders.

ZCCM-IH currently has an investment portfolio of 22 companies, including Kansanshi Mining Plc (20%), Mopani Copper Mines Plc (10%) and Konkola Copper Mines Plc (20.6). Its shareholdings in these companies range from 10% to 100%, with commodities and services that are diversified in nature, including copper, gold, cobalt, coal and power, limestone, mining consultancy, financial services and gemstones.

10 COMMENTS

  1. We will do anything to fight for what is rightfully zambians’ unlike HH who sold zambian companies for peanuts all for his own personal gratification. Kz

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  2. ZCCM should know better than take such cases with such figures to Lusaka High courts …this would have been ideal in London court am sure FQM is registered on the London Stock Exchange.

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  3. why pass a judgment on 23rd march 2020 in the midst of Covid-19 fighting for a case of 2016. When businesses are looking for financial support from governments you start pursuing them with litigations?Hmm this is a double edged sword. If FQM decides to leave Zambia because of this, it will need Zambians to understand that we will have a lot of challenges but it will be an opportunity to get a bigger stake in the mine when a new investor comes in. This should be the case with KCM, when a new investor comes they should be given only 51%, the balance should go to IDC. Even the FQM case can be solved using shares. Reduce the shares of FQM by the amount they owe ZRA and ZCCM-IH so that theres no cash transactions involved to avoid affecting the cashflow of the company. There’s need of…

  4. Check/Investigate the following on FQML:
    * Concentrate haulage contract
    * Overburden stripping contract
    * Diesel supply contract, and
    * Mill balls (grinding media) purchase contract
    ZRA will find that they’re all inflated to attenuate the taxes.
    Thiis was applied at their Frontier Mine in DRC until the government there unraveled it!

    At Kansanshi, is the gold in concentrate accounted for?

  5. Zambia with its learned comrades…kuwayawaya fye….how do you claim things when you are hardly preview to the happenings inside a company….you don’t entrust your wife to your neighbor then turn round and say you impregnated her and made her abort…how????you wait to be warming sits elsewhere and expect to be told the truth in how the mines are being operated…just how is that possible, when even you yourselves know it’s practically impossible to declare how one makes his corrupt money even at individual level….learned zambians are cowards and jokers

  6. State house has been paid to facilitate the loss this case…….

    Who can trust these people who would go as far as gassing their own people ????

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  7. Even if we get those funds what difference will we see? Only luxury SUVs and housing complexes will come up. The mindset of people has to change, Zambians need to put their leaders to task, ever since Kaunda days there was the talk on fighting corruption and we are still talking about it and no one has ever spoken about increasing efficiency in service delivery, if things are done fast and people don’t have to wait 5 years of travelling from Chirundo to Lusaka to get a title deed but instead you get it in less than a month then we won’t have any corruption. Leave First Quantum alone they are one of the best investors as a nation we have. If they go who will run the mines? Kaizer Zulu??? Heaven forbid!

  8. ZCCM representation in these Mines is not sufficiently engaged. A partnership in share value should also trickle down job function especially in finance ,procurement and Hr.

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