By Sean E. Tembo – PeP President
1. The bottom line is that there is plenty of gold across the country. Anyone who is interested in mining it can simply apply for an exploration license at the Department of Mines and it shall be given to you. Once you locate commercially viable deposits of gold with your exploration, then you can apply for a mining license and again, the Department of Mines will give it to you and you can set up your gold mine as a Zambian which will be owned by you 100%. Nobody will stop you. I personally know more than 10 prominent Zambians that are into the exploration business not only for gold but even for other deposits such as oil. Some are in the process of developing their mines.
2. Those Karma Mining Services guys who came from Sudan went and applied for an exploration license, got it, pumped money into exploration in Mumbwa, found commercially viable deposits of gold, applied for a mining license, got it then set up their mine which is operational as we speak. ZCCM-IH as an investor decided to buy some shares into the Mumbwa mine. Given that Karma is an international company with other business assets elsewhere, instead of ZCCM-IH buying shares into Karma Mining Services, they decided to set up an SPV called CGCZ in which ZCCM-IH owns 45% and Karma Mining Services owns 55%. This SPV will mine the gold at the Mumbwa site.
3. The SPV further decided to invest into a gold processing plant which will not only process gold from their Mumbwa mining site but also from various artisanal gold miners dotted all over the area. An artisanal miner is a small scale miner and this license category is reserved for Zambians only. There are more than 1,000 artisanal mining licenses that the Department of Mines has issued so far, for different mineral deposits including gold, manganese, emeralds etc.
4. CGCZ decided to establish an SPV to undertake this gold processing in Mumbwa in conjunction with Allay metals in which CGCZ owns 65% and Allay Metals owns 35%. A gold processing facility is like a smelter in the world of copper. Anyone can set up a gold processing facility and those involved in gold mining including artisanal gold miners will decide which processing facility to take their gold to for processing.
5. So now tell me, what are people crying about regarding the above arrangement? This is a totally commercial arrangement and no one said that these entities above will have a monopoly on gold exploration or mining in Zambia, no. So before ignorance kills you by arguing about things you don’t even understand, get out of social media, go and apply for a gold exploration license at the Department of Mines and become a proud gold mine owner in a few months or years.
” Before ignorance kills you by arguine about this you dont understand get out of social meadia, go and apply for a licence ” SEAN TEMBO, This applies to all those in the diaspora and habaazoka lubinda,who were feeding us with fake infomation on this platform. Well said sean
Did President Sean Tembo screen those Sudanese, their names looks like those from Al Bashir ministers.
It’s unbelievable!!!!!. All the mourning and whining has disappeared.
Thanks Sean for clearing the air. Our full time bloggers are still thinking about the response to make.
The long and short of this and many other issues is lack of understanding and researching of issues. We tend to use emotions more than we should. I sometimes wonder how people are able to comment on every subject. They must be geniuses. I hope.
Thanks again Sean for the enlightenment.
Well articulated write up Mr. Tembo. I feel mineral exploration should be a privilege for the local people only and Mining licenses should be joint ventures otherwise foreigners will continue to rip off the resources and externalise the profits.
This is lack of foresight and not even to begin to understand what the outcry is of many well meaning Zambians. To put simply we concerned Zambians are saying we have huge mineral resources to enable Zambia pay off its debts and alleviate the country from poverty levels of whole of its citizens. How? By having a well focused policy that is targeted for the benefit of the Zambians.
These loosely policies being articulated here are not only useless but totally misguided and needs to be strengthened with the future of our future generations guaranteed. What is taken out of the soil is not returned for ever so we need to be thinking of investments that will stand the test of time and these investments should come from the minerals mined today. A foreign investor will take the money out and…
Very well written and explained!
However the cries of the people are that haven’t we learnt anything from the current owners of the mines whom we have to fight tooth and nail to get anything for Zambia if at all there’s anything that remains?
Yes the procedure is as straight forward as you have put it and it gives those foreigners with capital or access to cheap loans from their countries an advantage to own these minerals and Zambia to continue being exploited.
In other countries a foreigner no matter how much money he may have can not own a business, he has to partner with the locals and the locals get to have 50%+ shares. That is a sure way of ensuring proceeds of the business remain among the local population. That is the cry Shaun, not that any Zambian was denied mining rights…
Sean, the system has never been favourable to Zambians and that’s the reason why we do not even benefit from copper mining in this country. We have a chance by turning a new leaf with gold exploration and mining which can be achieved by how we structure foreign companies investing in the industry. Responsibly undertaken, gold mining has the potential to make a significant, positive impact on this dying economy
Am coming to apply for a licence lets see if you will give me.
I agree with Shi Bupe mineral exploration should be a privilege for the local people only and Mining licenses should be joint ventures otherwise foreigners will continue to rip off the resources and externalize the profits.
Iwe Sean how do you explain the two licenses which where grabbed from Zambians (Chilibwe & Kampoko) in Mwinilunga because PF officials had strong armed their way into the tenements. What will be CGCZ’s role in Mwinilunga? Where does this leave the original licence owners. Did Karma also own Rufunsa? Zccm-ih is a public institution. It has to be TRANSPARENT in its dealing. From start to finish. Not just making announcements after dealings that never saw the light of day. Everything about CGCZ is opaque. And you want to be the President! My foot!
He is right. In paragraph 3: “An artisanal miner is a small scale miner and this license category is reserved for Zambians only.”
Why are we always good at complaining? This is a fantastic opportunity for Zambians, especially those of us in diaspora to invest in. We can form a business holding, acquire capital, machinery and know-how and get going. It’s just a question of courage. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!
Sean may have all this information at his disposal and he is cleverly making this look so simple and straight forward. Not many Zambians can afford to do the exploration of minerals and that he must bear in his mind. The cry from many Zambians is the way such issues are handled and how easily foreigners are allowed to carry out such activities with very little benefits for the country and especially the areas such activities are being done. We recently heard how some illegal miners were arrested and their gold seized, if indeed it is that simple to get all the permits required, then what is the reasoning behind many illegal mining activities in the country and even the so called black mountain? Zambians are not ignorant to cry over such deals because the govt has not made it possible to…
Even if these questionable foreigners had a dubious agenda for these mines, you, as a Zambian, u ve no sharp teeth to bite them. As u ve no practical Zambian competition to make them shake. You need to ve successful or atleast well-doing Zed miners(Not Jerabos), but proper miners. Cos pure mining is not for Jerabos, its for Qualified or Practical experienced miners.
Take for instance, if a Chinese came here to infest in Chicken raring with a very small capital but ends up getting a big loan from our govnmt. Citizens clearly can challenge that as there is practical & proven Zambian skills around that. Almost every Zambian care rare chickens or grow tomatoes successfully – from L/stone to Kasumbalesa. This is what u need to feel the moment someones mentions “Mining”.
But instd, u ve a chap who is now 70yrs old, grew up in Chingola, worked in almost all the copper mines on the Copperbelt but if u asked him what a Copper alloy was, he remains deaf.
It appears the writer is more pre-occupied with showing opposition towards what “some people he may not like have said” rather than grasping the gist of the matter!! Like most commenters have said, THE MEAT IS NOT WITH FOREIGNERS PER SE BUT THE MANNER THE DEAL HAS BEEN STRUCTURED, SKEWED TO BENEFIT FOREIGNERS MUCH MORE THAN OUR NATION!THE OPAQUE MANNER IN WHICH THIS HAS BEEN DONE AND ENTIRE SHAREHOLDING STRUCTURE HAVE SHOWN THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY ZCCM-IH, ZAMBIA AS A COUNTRY, WILL ONCE MORE BECOME MERE SPECTATORS IN A SECTOR WE COULD HAVE WELL CONTROLLED! It is disingenuous to challenge critics to go and start mining when Seans knows that their aim is only to see that Zambians with capacity and interest to invest in mining are given a chance to promote local ownership of the…
..continued..to promote local ownership of the economy and contribute to poverty alleviation. I hope this article is not from Sean Tembo, who I have known to be analytical and eloquent in communicating his views for easy understanding to the masses, OTHERWISE, I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT HE UNLEARNS HIS BELIEFS ON THIS DEAL,RECANTS HIS VIEWS TO REDEEM HIS IMAGE!!
Go away Mr Tembo. That’s why you will never make state house. You oppose the voice of the people. You have no mandate without it.
The issue here is not what ordinary Zambians haven’t done or have neglected to obtain from the Ministry of Mines. Rather, the emphasis is on making this gold be of real benefit to every Zambian regardless of who explored, mined or whatever. This time the mineral MUST redeem us. Making others look ignorant is not always the smartest thing to do
This Sean Tembo makes it look like its as easy as drinking tea…people’s outcry is not about that, its the details and transparency they are interested in…He has forgotten about what happened in NW where PF officials looted Gold…the same govt is also creating co-operatives in Eastern Province full of unknown to mine Gold and using ZCCM to maintain machinery in return for what.
Sounds easy,but is it ???
Just as with our peasantry or small scale farmers so it is with small miners or so-called artesanal, always meant to wallow at the bottomless pits of the commodity value chains that are a vicious creation of the neocolonialist legacy. The status quo is designed for enrichment of corporations
I thought Sean Tembo was a respectable man who must be called honourable but where are those arrogant words coming from , yes
Indeed ignorant just as Mr Tembo is also ignorant in some spheres of life, mr Tembo must allow other Zambians who cannot be exparts in what Sean Tembo is the master.
My point is Zambia has always been on the losing end for more than fifty ,50years how can Zambians remain so foolish to allow the status quo to prevail.
Zambians have now woken up to see that they actively participate in some developmental projects including mining , I mean you cannot keep people in perpetual darkness when infact they can see the light flicking in front of them , honourable Tembo just come down and accommodate fellow Zambians and actually consider them as priorities in giving…
Before ignorance kills tarino let him come out of social media ,haha you can die of laughter.
Don’t get the Chinese into this as they’ll dig for gold 24/7 , you’re warned.
Iwe Sean how do you explain the two licenses which where grabbed from indigenous Zambians (Chilibwe & Kampoko) in Mwinilunga after PF officials strong armed their way into the tenements. GOVT is very Aggressive in grabbing licences from Zambians NOT FOREIGNERS. A police commissioner lost his job in the fiasco. But what can a ZP commissioner do against PF political machinery? What was the motive of the PF? Why did the the PF investigate itself instead of DEC, ACC and ZP? We saw what happened to the sesheke police officers who applied their duty to violent PF thugs during a by election. The got fired for doing a good job. What will be CGCZ’s role in Mwinilunga? Where does this leave the original licence owners. Did Karma also own Rufunsa? Zccm-ih is a public institution. It has to be…
CONTINUED: Zccm-ih is a public institution. It has to be TRANSPARENT in its dealing. From start to finish. Not just making announcements after dealings that never saw the light of day. Everything about CGCZ is opaque. And Sean want to be the President of the Republic of Zambia! My foot! Sean you are a mercenary! I am extremely disappointed by your antics. Sean, I appeal to you to be wise use your intelligence for common good NOT for self aggrandizement. GOD HELP US.
I once believed that Sean TEMBO was above tribalism, nepotism and regionalism. But the DEFENSE of ZCCM-IH CEO Mabvuto Chipata poor handling of the gold project has left me wondering. Sean please exculpate yourself. Especially after posting that you don’t mind having an entire cabinet from one province as long as they are competent. Do you really believe zccm ih is in competent hands? The zccm ih gold fiasco has exposed incompetence & political interference and yet you support this scam. Would I be wrong to conclude that you are a tribalist looking the other way because your tribesman is in the hot seat and being abused by politicians?
You can sell it how you want….the fact remains 70 % of profits from this gold will leave Zambia…….externalised …..just like all other monies from other minerals in Zambia.
What we are saying is , 80% of monies should remain in Zambia to build the country
ST you have missed the point. Your article may sound sensible but it does not address the cry of Zambians. The simple question you have failed to answer in your article is ; Why should Sudanese or any other foreigner be allowed or given gold mining licences? Haven’t we learnt much from the MCM and KCM type? Is it honestly impossible to raise 2.5 million dollars among Zambians? Mr Tembo the reason our kwacha is very weak is because our biggest forex earners keep the dollars outside Zambia. I thought you should know better hence the cry to keep gold revenues in Zambia to stabilise exchange rates. Please.
What kind of government empowers foreigners but hinders its own. Surely Zambians are supposed to get these mining licences at a quarter of what outsiders pay to be licensed. Foreigners will always siphon the money out….shibikeni imwe, even Trump is like AMERICA FIRST, imwe ati ZAMBIANS KU NUMA.