LUMWANA Mine, a subsidiary of Equinox Minerals of Australia, is optimistic it will reach its 135,000 tonnes copper production target in Zambia this year. And the Government has re-assured mining firms that their investments in Zambia are safe and that the Rupiah Banda administration has no intentions to reintroduce windfall tax.
Equinox Minerals Ltd president and chief executive officer Craig Williams said in Lusaka on Monday that it was now 20 months since the first pound of copper was produced at Lumwana in December 2008 after a culmination of 10 years of intensive activity and nearly US$1billion of investment by Equinox.
Mr Williams was speaking during a reception to introduce Equinox Board members to stakeholders at Lusaka’s Inter-continental Hotel. He said since commissioning, the company had achieved steadily improving results and in the maiden year of production, it managed to produce more than 100,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate.
“While we faced considerable challenges during that first year as we transitioned from mine builder to mine operator, the mine is now operating at design and in the first half of this year, we have produced another 74,000 tonnes of copper and are on track for our 2010 target of 135, 000 tonnes of copper,” he said.
Despite posting all this growth, the mine was still venturing into expansion opportunities that would require more investments by Equinox, underlining its commitment to Zambia and the further development of the country’s pre-eminent copper mine.
He assured that Lumwana would continue with its social responsibility of ploughing back some of its profits into the community for at least 50 years to build a sustainable future for the region for the next century and beyond, long after Lumwana is finished. Lumwana was now one of the top 20 copper producers in the world and yet it also faced challenges like competition, especially in view of the recent global financial crisis.
But the firm was keen to expand Lumwana further to create more jobs though all this was dependent on stakeholders including Government to expedite and efficiently deal with issues on which decisions must be made for the company to get on with business.
He described Zambia as a great country with potential to be one of the powerhouses of Africa and Equinox was proud to be making a significant contribution to that growth potential and was grateful for the partnership and support from the Government.
And Mines Minister Maxwell Mwale commended management at Lumwana for being focused even when others were going under care and maintenance during the global recession.
The minister assured the nation that the stock pile of uranium ore being mined at Lumwana was harmless as it was not reaching the stage of nuclear armaments saying it was only ore.
“The uranium is not dangerous at all contrary to pronouncements from some stakeholders in society. People in Southern Province have lived under this kind of ore for a long time while their animals have grazed in areas where there is the same ore but there is no effect whatsoever because it is only ore.
He assured Lumwana and other mining firms that the Rupiah Banda administration made a decision to remove windfall tax and there is no reason for the same Government to restore the tax.
“I can assure you that your investment in Zambia is very safe. This country enjoys peace and stability and at the same time, no one will bring back windfall tax. We know there are many countries fighting for Foreign Direct Investments but because of the peace and stability that we have, we are confident that Zambia will remain competitive,” he said.
[Times of Zambia]