Chamber of mines pledge compliance
By BUSINES REPORTER 7+( =ambia &hamber of 0ines =&0 has pledJed to be full\ compliant with the industr\ wide audit which was recentl\ announced b\ the =ambia 5evenue $uthorit\
ZCM has however observed that the mine audit is not new in Zambia. According to ZCM chief e[ecutive officer, 6okwani Chilembo, the chamber and its membership would remain compliant to maintain momen tum in the mine project pipe line and cross the million tons of copper per year milestone within the next two years. Mr Chilembo said it was critical not to miss either executing these projects or crossing the tonnage milestone within the present window of positive copper price forecasts and advantageously priced financing stemming from Moody’s stable ratings outlook for Zambia.
“The Chamber is as always willing to provide a platform for cooperation with all state and stakeholder actors in building trust, confidence and partner ship to underpin steady growth in both the industry and the na tional interests,” he said.
Mr Chilembo in a statement also clarified that this was the third time in the last five years the industry would be audited.
He e[plained that the first au dit was led by an eminent per son’s panel and a second was executed with Norwegian gov ernment support.
“What has been unprec edented in the current specific instance regarding our member First Quantum Minerals is the release into the public domain of an unverified assessment amount in an ongoing audit.
“This is not within the norms of business in Zambia precisely because consequently the fo cus has been drawn away from the principal which is the only confirmed amount in the assess ment and is around just a forti eth of the total sum publicised,”
“These two key points of this being the third publicly an nounced industry wide audit in five years and the relative si]e of the principal in the ongoing high profile case must be fore most in the minds of all observ ers as the audits continue,” Mr Chilembo said.