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Zambia’s government
intends to keep ownership of some mining licenCes that are shown to be
promising by an ongoing mapping exercise and invite private investors to
develop the assets alongside the State.
Africa’s
second-biggest copper producer is pursuing ambitious plans to more than
quadruple the metal’s output by the beginning of next
decade. This increase will require companies to transform multiple exploration
projects into operating mines. The government is currently funding an aerial
geophysical survey to zero in on the best areas.
The state has set up a special purpose
vehicle to push along investment, Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe said at a
conference in the capital Lusaka on Wednesday. Some of the areas identified by
the mapping “will be licensed within the SPV itself,” which will then approach partners about commercial arrangements for
exploration and mining, he said.
In one possible scenario floated by the
minister, the state company would have a 45% interest in a joint venture.
Subsidiaries of First Quantum Minerals and
Barrick Gold Corporation produce most of Zambia’s
copper, accounting for about two-thirds of output last year, according to
government data.
Without going into detail about the state’s financial participation in the proposed joint ventures, the
licenses on offer “must be taken as capital,” Kabuswe had said at the same event earlier. “Our contribution as a nation is what we discovered on that tenement
because we’ve already put money in through mapping.”
The mines ministry and an industry group
last week said they had resolved differences over a draft law that would have
potentially given the state a bigger share of new mining projects.
Other investors in Zambia’s mining sector include Bill Gates-backed KoBold Metals, Abu Dhabi’s International Resources Holding, China Nonferrous Mining Corp. and
Vedanta Resources Ltd.