De koperproductie steeg met 16% in de eerste 6 maanden van 2010. Hierdoor is men met 393.089 ton goed op weg naar de doelstelling van dit jaar van 750.000 ton. Vorig jaar was dit nog 700.000 toen de gevolgen van de financiële crisis nog sterk voelbaar waren. Het Zambiaanse koper wordt vooral in de bouw en voor kabels gebruikt. Vooral de nieuwe mijnen hebben de productie goed opgeschroefd.
“This year’s production should exceed last year’s figure given the impressive first-half results,” said Chibamba Kanyama, an analyst at think-tank Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ).
“The new mines like Lumwana are increasing their output, and other mines which resumed production after the global economic crisis are also picking up relatively fast.”
Zambia’s copper exports during the first six months rose to 405,784 tonnes from the 310,956 tonnes the southern African country exported in the first half of last year, data showed.
Kanyama said the mines were drilling deeper because of rising metals prices.
Cobalt production during the period more than doubled to 4,057 tonnes from 1,967 tonnes last year, while exports of the metal increased to 3,889 tonnes from 1,950 tonnes last year.
Kanyama said the restarting of output at Zambia’s largest cobalt producer, Chambishi Metals had greatly contributed to the increased cobalt production.
Zambia has continued to attract mining investments to lift output to the targeted 750,000 tonnes this year and 1 million tonnes by 2012, Central Bank Governor Caleb Fundanga said last week.
The government and the Chamber of Mines of Zambia both said investments in the mining sector, the country’s economic lifeblood have peaked at $5 billion in the last eight years.
The mines are a major employer in Zambia, a country of over 12 million people.
Foreign mining companies in Zambia include London-listed Vedanta Resources, Canada’s First Quantum Minerals, Equinox Minerals, Glencore International of Switzerland and Metorex of South Africa.
[Reuters]
