Limestone Resources Limited (LRL) was barely operational for the most part of the year as both primary kilns (VK1 and VK2) were not functional. The collapse of refractory bricks on VK1 in 2021 had not yet been resolved while the historical fuel system challenges on VK2 were only resolved in July 2022. These works included multiple modifications to have the kiln operate using coal as the fuel, a much cheaper commodity than Heavy Fuel Oil in the original design.  

ZCCM-IH provided working capital funding to ignite and commission the kiln in August 2022 and the Kiln was fired up in September 2022. Even though the kiln is operational, it takes several months to attain stability in quality and production as different operating parameters are monitored and observed, and adjustments made accordingly. Further, LRL was not adequately capitalised for a long time and therefore continued to experience underperformance of its operating plant and equipment.  

ZCCM-IH continued to support the Company for its turnaround strategies.  

As a result of only being productive for the last 3 months of the year, LRL’s performance was substantially impacted, recording revenue of only ZMW26.8 million (2021: ZMW 119 million). The loss for the year was ZMW90.78 million (2021: ZMW39.7 million).  

There were no dividends declared during the period under review (December 2021: Nil)