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Zambia's proposed mining law bad for financial investment, miners state

Zambia's proposed minerals policy law could hinder investment and provide a deadly blow to strategies to raise annual copper output to 3 million loads, 2 mining bodies said on Wednesday.

Zambia's federal government has proposed a new Minerals Policy Commission Bill, which looks for to control and keep an eye on the advancement and management of mineral resources in Africa's. second-biggest copper manufacturer.

However Zambia's Chamber of Mines (ZCM), the main mining. industry body, and the Association of Zambian Mineral. Expedition Companies (AZMEC) said in a joint declaration some. parts of the proposed law will drive up the perception of. investment danger in Zambia.

Unfortunately, due to ... the prospect of forced 'free bring'. acquisitions by the state of stakes in new ventures, this Costs. will seriously weaken residential or commercial property rights, the mining market. bodies said.

The Bill likewise grants unaccountable and approximate. discretionary decision making powers to specific regulators,. which present apparent future corruption threats, they included.

Zambia's mines ministry was not immediately available to. comment.

President Hakainde Hichilema's federal government, chosen in 2021,. has sought to repair the country's financial investment track record and. ramp up copper production, which was affected by the seizure of. Konkola Copper Mines from Vedanta by the previous administration. in 2019.

The new government has actually handed the business back to Vedanta as. it presses to raise copper output to 3 million heaps each year. within the next years to benefit from growing demand for. the metal, which is key to the global shift to cleaner sources. of energy.

Copper output dropped to 698,000 lots in 2023 from 763,000. lots the previous year, data from the Zambia Chamber of Mines. revealed.

Mining majors such as Barrick Gold and First. Quantum Minerals are investing billions of dollars into. their Zambian copper possessions.

The United Arab Emirates' International Resources Holding. ( IRH) has vowed to invest $1.1 billion to expand output at. Mopani Copper Mines after purchasing a 51% stake in the company. formerly owned by Glencore.

(source: Reuters)