NOMSA NKANA, Lusaka

CHIBULUMA Mines earned more than US$70 million in 2015, a senior company official disclosed recently.

Chibuluma country manager Jackson Sikamo said the company sold 13,303 tonnes of copper in 2015, earning US$71 million in gross revenue.

Mr Sikamo also said as at May 31, this year, Chibuluma spent US$14.4 million on development.

He said Chibuluma’s current major project is the company-financed US$24 million Chifupu copper development project.

Mr Sikamo was speaking in Lusaka during the just ended 6th Zambia International Mining and Energy Conference which was held under the theme, ‘Mining and energy on the growth path to support and grow the Zambian economy.’

“However, the mine’s performance in the financial year 2015 has been characterised by low production volumes, and this, coupled with the continuously falling copper prices, has put severe pressure on the company’s cash flow,” he said.

He said Chibuluma Mines is facing operational challenges due to, among other issues, the copper price reduction and increasing cost of production.

Mr Sikamo said other challenges facing the company are current resources mined out by 2019 (excluding the Chifupu reserve), skills retention, underground collisions, supervisor safety culture, historically supervisor- dependent and equipment availability and reliability, among others.

He said to address the challenges, Chibuluma Mines is looking for acquisitions, explorations and joint-venture partnerships with local or foreign companies to expand its operations in the country.

Chibuluma Mines plc is a modern mechanised underground copper mine which is 85 percent owned by Jinchuan Group Company Limited and 15 percent by ZCCM-IH plc.

Source: Zambia Daily Mail