Govt desires competent and technically qualified equity partners for KCM and Mopani

GOVERNMENT says it wants to hand over Mopani and Konkola Copper Mines to competent and technically qualified equity partners who will be able to increase production at the two mines.

Minister of Finance and National Development Situmbeko Musokotwane says the process to unlock the two mining companies has taken longer than expected because of the complexities surrounding their handover to government.

Speaking in Kitwe on Saturday, during a budget analysis symposium for the 2023 National Budget, Dr. Musokotwane cited legal issues around the KCM case that needs to be sorted out before the mine can be offered to any investor.

Among the hitches surrounding KCM is the USS$1.5 million-dollar debt left by Glencoe and the unfair agreement attached to the handover of the mine that government is dealing with as it is unlocking Mopani Copper mines.

“Please bear with us on the delayed process to unlock the two mines, as you may know there are complex issues involved and they cannot be dealt within a short time but within a month or two we will be closing on Mopani, we don’t want to hand over the asset to a group that will be giving us problems after problems and then you start complaining to us,” Dr. Musokotwane explained.

And government wants to ensure increased copper production in the country from 800 to three million metric tonnes per annum in the next ten years and unlocking Mopani and KCM was one of the issues to be addressed to ensure increased copper production.

Dr. Musokotwane also highlighted that the reduced mineral royalty proposed under the 2023 National Budget will help attract investments in the mining sector which he said sstagnated under the previous regime due to the mineral royalty tax which was way above the international rate.