PLANS by Zambia to appropriate shares in mining projects won’t apply to any assets where licences have already been granted, said Bloomberg News.
“No entity that currently operates in Zambia today, that currently has a license, will be subjected to any appropriation from the state,” Jito Kayumba, President Hakainde Hichilema’s special assistant for finance and investment told the newswire. “There will be no demand for them to restructure the shareholding so that either the government or a Zambian company comes in and takes 30%.”
The mines ministry in August unveiled a new strategy that would see a state-owned company control at least 30% of future critical-minerals mines. That initiative will apply only to permits – more than 40 of them – reserved for the government, which intends to bring in investment partners, said Bloomberg News.
The southern African nation’s Chamber of Mines described the new policy as “an unprecedented threat“.
Hakainde’s administration “risks undoing all the good work achieved” since coming to power in 2021 to attract investment to the southern African nation, which relies on copper for about 70% of export earnings. First Quantum Minerals and Barrick Gold are among the Chamber’s members.
Zambia is targeting output of three million tons by early next decade – a sharp hike from less than 700,000 tons last year.
Several dozen permits set aside for the government will be transferred to a state firm, which will then negotiate agreements with partners, Kayumba told Bloomberg News. The company will hold significant minority but non-operational stakes in the projects.
Discussions are currently underway for a potential joint venture for some of the licenses with Barrick, the world’s second largest gold producer, he said.
