KCM to shine again
THE operations of Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has been a thorny issue for some time now as the operations at the giant mine have dwindled due to financial constraints. Many stakeholders have been questioning whether the government was indeed reactive to the issues that were happening at the mine.
After the government gave back the mine to Vedanta Resources which owns 80 percent shares months ago, many have been wondering what has been delaying the investor to takeover and save the national asset from being placed on care and maintenance.
But the government has responded on numerous occasions explaining why the transaction process has taken long.
The court process is the major issue on the KCM matter. The scheme of arrangement is an important aspect and it is before the courts of law.
But all this process will come to an end soon because the government was eager to ensure the asset is back to its feet.
And what needs to excite the people of Zambia especially those on Copperbelt is that Vedanta has started injecting money in the mine.
The investor has pumped in about US$25 million for employee salaries, contract labour as well as for other critical services needed to maintain the integrity of the asset.
Vedanta Director of Corporate Communications, Masuzyo Ndhlovu, said the company has also deployed a technical team at KCM to work together with the current management to ascertain the state of the asset. Mr Ndhlovu said this is aimed at ensuring that the business was prepared for operations once Vedanta takes over upon the conclusion of the scheme of arrangement that was before the court.
He said once the scheme of arrangement had been agreed upon with the creditors, and court cases withdrawn, the KCM provisional liquidator would vacate the office after the liquidation case was discontinued in the High Court and would hand over the mine to Vedanta.
Mr Ndhlovu said this would effectively mean the liquidation process coming to an end.
He said the KCM Board of Directors would then be reinstated or reappointed by both Vedanta and ZCCM-Investment Holdings who were shareholders of the mine.
What is also worth noting is that the Lusaka High Court has granted an exparte order to convene a meeting of creditors to discuss the proposed scheme of arrangement to save the giant mine from total collapse due to unbearable debt.
According to Provisional Liquidator, Celine Meena Nair, KCM is highly indebted to several creditors and as at December 2023, the actual total debt of the mine was about US$4, 488, 281.37 which is expected to rise to approximately US$4, 303, 746, 454.82 at the end of March 2024, thereby affecting the viability of the mine.
Justice Charles Kafunda has therefore ordered that the meeting between KCM and its creditors be convened as soon as possible.
The development clearly shows that the giant mine will see the light again after months of financial struggles due to the absence of an investor.
The revamping of the mine will not only improve the economic prospects for the people in the province but it will contribute to the country’s economic growth.
With a settlement in sight, all stakeholders must work together to ensure that the final agreement will bring smiles to all stakeholders.