Following the sale of Chibuluma South Crown Pillar Mine, Chibuluma Mines could not sustain operations with ore from Chifupu Underground Mine alone. Therefore, the Chibuluma Mines Plc Board, resolved to place the operations of Chibuluma Mine Plc under care and maintenance with effect from 1 July 2020. This resulted in the Company getting into a lease agreement with Lian Chao and Yue Ventures Limited (LC&Y) to operate key mining operations for the 2021 financial year. 

The lease between Chibuluma and LC&Y was recognised for the period up to 30 June 2021. The investment of the lease was US$ 6.79 million, and the assets disposed of by Chibuluma was US$ 5.00 million. This resulted in a net gain on the lease investment of US$ 1.79 million as charged to the income statement.

Following the resumption of production under LC&Y a total of 1,069 tonnes of payable Copper was sold to Chambishi Copper Smelter by LC&Y. Chibuluma earned income royalty of US$ 0.88 million. For the period under review, the Company recorded a net profit of US$ 1.69 million against a budget loss of US$ 1.13 million due to favourable prices and increased production under the lease agreement. 

There were no dividends paid during the year ended 31 December 2021 (2020: Nil).