Zambia’s proposed mining law bad for investment, miners say

LUSAKA, Aug  (Reuters) – Zambia’s proposed minerals regulation law could deter investment and deliver a “fatal blow” to plans to raise annual copper output to 3 million tons, two mining bodies said on Wednesday.

Zambia’s government has proposed a new Minerals Regulation Commission Bill, which seeks to “regulate and monitor the development and management of mineral resources” in Africa’s second-biggest copper producer.

But Zambia’s Chamber of Mines (ZCM), the main mining industry body, and the Association of Zambian Mineral Exploration Companies (AZMEC) said in a joint statement some parts of the proposed law “will drive up the perception of investment risk in Zambia”.

“Unfortunately, due to…the prospect of forced ‘free carry’ acquisitions by the state of stakes in new ventures, this Bill will seriously undermine property rights,” the mining industry bodies said.

“The Bill also grants unaccountable and arbitrary discretionary decision making powers to individual regulators, which present obvious future corruption risks,” they added.

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

President Hakainde Hichilema’s government, elected in 2021, has sought to repair the country’s investment reputation and ramp up copper production, which was impacted by the seizure of Konkola Copper Mines from Vedanta by the previous administration in 2019.