Zambian miners resist state taking bigger stake in resources

Bloomberg News | September 20, 2024 | 

Lusaka skyline, Zambia. Stock image.

Zambian mining companies met with the government to resolve differences over a proposed legal change that would potentially give the state a bigger share of its mineral resources.


Draft legislation under consideration in the southern African country’s parliament would enable Zambia to “acquire mining rights for investment by government.” The state would be able to buy a stake in an area before an exploration license was granted, and retain it after a discovery was made and the site developed.

That plan is opposed by the Zambia Chamber of Mines, whose members include units of First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and Barrick Gold Corp. Earlier in the week, the chamber said that in its current form, the new law would introduce “unaccountable and arbitrary” decision making.

The chamber met with Zambia’s Mines Ministry on Friday in the capital, Lusaka, to “reach an amicable settlement” on the contested clause. “The parties have developed a roadmap for the resolution of the matter within the shortest period of time,” they said in a joint statement.

The chamber also criticized plans outlined last month by Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe for the government to set up a state-owned firm to control at least 30% of the output of critical minerals, including copper, from future mines. Zambia, Africa’s second-biggest copper producer, is targeting a fourfold increase in output of the metal by early next decade.

(By William Clowes and Taonga Mitimingi)