The government has given Mopani Copper Mines a Seven Day ultimatum to show cause why its large-scale mining licences for Mufulira and Kitwe must NOT be revoked.
This follows Mopani Copper Mines alleged breach of provisions of the Mines and Minerals Act and the Employment Code Act.
This is according to a letter to Mopani Copper Mines, Chief Executive Officer, Nathan Bullock from Mining Licensing Committee Secretary Micheal Chibonga and made available to ZNBC News.
Mr Chibonga said the committee is in receipt of investigations report by the Director of Mines which has established that the mines have proceeded to place the NKANA and Mufulira Mines on Care and Maintenance.
He said this is without giving sufficient notice as required by law and in total defiance of the directive against such action, and the employees have already been given letters.
Mr Chibonga says it has also been established that all critical contracts for mining services and suppliers have been terminated with immediate effect.
He said the Mining Licensing Committee intends to revoke the large-scale mining licences for Nkana and Mufulira mine in accordnace with the Mines and Minerals Development Act of 2015.
Mr Chibonga said the Mine also breached section 37 of the Mines and Minerals Development Act of 2015 by defying the directive by the Director of Mines to resume mining operations
And you gave sufficient notice and due process before closing a tv station? The arrogance mwa bantu!
Is this the right way to grow economy?
There’s nothing good that will come out of this. The conflict will go beyond the 3 months that Mopani intended to close, in the meantime vultures are waiting on the sides to grab whatever they can lay hands on. I doubt if the workers will get their next pay cheque. The business and jobs that Musukwa wants to save will still be lost Tru to the adage when 2 elephants fights?
Mining corporations in Zambia have become used to getting away with murder. They do and behave the way they wouldn’t dare in countries they come from or incorporated. Like I have said before, since the privatization of mines in Zambia, mining has become a curse to the Zambian economy! Zambia derives very little benefits from the mines nowadays. The country is always at the whim of these companies. One wonders where they take all the money when the times are good. After all they skimp on taxes and have even refused to pay for power/electricity at commercial prices….forcing poor Zambians to subsidize their operations at a huge cost. One would think companies as big as the mining congratulates operating in Zambia would have funds/money set aside specifically to deal with downturns in the…
Continue….
comodity markets. But NOPE. That says a lot about their long term goals and intentions for these mines…..THEY HAVE NONE, it is all about short term profits!
Uselessness all around in this government. Arm twisting the people that you need to survive. You are a begging government which needs these companies and now you think you have grown some muscles to give ultimatum. The workers will be the ones to starve in all this. Very sad and laughable
I am surprised if any new mining companies will have the desire to come to Zambia to mine. They are treated like a cow, being whipped with one hand and milked with the other. Cows will start going to greener pastures and then there will be a cry for them to return.
Its a wrong direction, government can’t run the mines and doesn’t have the ability to borrow. Zimbabwe went this way urged by hyper nationalists and has never recovered, Zambia is heading in the same direction with worse economic ramifications than Zimbabwe, its important to be realistic. We’ve ZAMTEL debt,Copprberlt Power Company potential court case in international courts, the country is doomed, Zambia will take a century to recover. However PF doesn’t listen to Economic sense..
Just look at the diasporans who have been programmed by their colonial masters to always side with their multinational. Remember that this is our copper and we have the upper hand. We call the shots. If you are not happy, then leave, there is always another company waiting to take over. Simple
@KZ: Spot on, brother!!! 2021, PF nafuti nafuti. Let’s run our national assets and have those dollars in our local banks. Go for it GRZ!!!!!
UPND followers there comments are same just as their voting patterns.because they are red then what follows is red red red red …………………
This curse of hating their own country came with HH and his tri.bal mates.
More worse workers in the mines are the Bemba and easterners in majority so who care ! after all there a few southerners who works as miners.
Bembas and easterners never vote for UPND just t.ribe shall make you suffer.Call a spade,spade.
This fight is not a child’s play. One will come out with a bloody nose. GRZ cant afford opening fights from East to West and North to South. KZ just the other day you said all was well because Mopani accepted to pay the workers. If you really the notorious KZ we now who is very connected you should have known what was cooking in the kitchen.
Mining is a practical world, even if one has to take over how long will it take him to open the reserves? Let us professional comment on this. Musukwa is using emotions. This cause for rational minds. 2021 is closing in on you, you should have waited.
Let’s not allow Nkana & Mufulira become another KCM being mismanaged until the day it will grind to a halt. We want to end up with Chinese labourers and security guards at Mopani. As Zambians sadly we have no capacity to manage because not because of technical/operational incompetence but because of political interference from the ruling parties of the day. Under the table deals, tribalism, nepotism, corruption and thieving. Just look at the sad case of Ndola Lime; ground to a halt with 200m USD loss paid to a bogus Italian kiln supplier whose has since gone bust. ZCCM-IH has failed to keep this quarry afloat. What makes you think that they can manage Nkana and mufulira mining complexes. And ZCCM-IH investing in a privately owned loss making Investrust bank. In whose interest? Please…
Continued: Please concentrate on sorting out loadshedding, mealie meal shortages and kwacha depreciation.
Nothing will will change the investors have gone, they have since realized that they were dealing with immature PF government, they saw some loopholes in the government systems.
please do not be lkie HH who gives ultimatums he cannot enforce. He have govt and ECL a 48HRs ultimatum to find the owner of the 48 Houses. It months now since the ultimatum elapsed and Mr. HH has gone quiet.
The people in the diaspora are very naive guys. I dont know may be their living in single rooms has contaminated their brains. How can you allow a company which only operates in times when it is making hyper profits? When their profits reduce a bit they close. Do you know how this behaviour affect the economic development of a country? A country can not develop because always it faces structural breaks which are man induced. I 100% support GRZ to cancel the Certificate for Mopani. These guys are here to just make money and have no agenda to help Zambia develop. Please let them go for good.
Please revoke away. It’s time for the Zambian govt to accept that NATIONALISATION is the best way forward no matter it’s initial costs. The govt of the Republic of Zambia has no power in the Mining Investor game to provide for it’s citizens. This country has squandered it’s copper wealth to the extent that there are no medical health systems and development is from borrowed loans from foreign shores. How can the rulers of this land justify being beggars from their own resources in their own land? You have to beg to run the country’s economy.
STOP THROWING EMPTY WORDS AROUND AND NATIONALISE. PRIVATISATION IS A TOTAL FAIL. YOU HAVE NO POWER OVER TRICKY MINING INVESTORS. we have been recolonised and we get less from our resources. Even King Solomon would have salivated at…
Even King Solomon would have salivated at Zambia’s Copper resources. This is not working out for us. The many court cases Zambia has taken against these Mining Conglomerates begging for Zambia’s righteousness to it’s resources is proof govt has no power to extract enough GDP for it’s people. NATIONALISE.
@KZ and @Zambian Citizen are missing something. Two things are missing in the Zambian environment especially at corporate level. One may argue this is inherited from the political behaviors too. These two things are discipline and governance. We ran ZCCM into the ground because we opted to employ on cronyism at the expense of competence. We also decided to misapply earnings and profits. It got worse when we privatized because even the social responsibilit evaporated. If we can bring back these two ingredients we are sorted. You two gentlemen should be able to bring this about in all fairness — even at the expense of losing both your noses in the process.
In addition KZ, a company like Freeport sets up a sinking fund. Whem metal prices are buoyant, they skim off cash into that account. At times like this, that fund sustains the operations. Such funds have been able to keep their mines running for as long as 9 months. In addition, their mine plans enable them to mine high grade ore during times of depressed prices to break even. This concept of referred to as “cherry picking”. The inept CEO of Mopani is not aware of this…OR HAS SOME ULTERIOR MOTIVE!
Zambians – beware of asset stripping taking place at Mopani Copper Mining Company as it happened under late president Chiluba.
Rise and defend your national assets
There is already one case with KCM which is going nowhere and now they want to start another with MCM. Soon all the mines in zambia will be running via court cases.