New Mining Bill in parlt - late payers face fines

The Lusaka Times reports that mine companies that fail to pay royalties 14 days after the end of the month in which the sale of the minerals is done will be prohibited from conducting further business outside their mining areas when a bill before Parliament is enacted.

This is according to the Mine and Minerals Development Bill 2008 which was tabled before Parliament by Minister of Justice, George Kunda on Friday.

The proposed law will repeal and replace the Mines and Minerals Act of 1995.

“Where the holder of a mining right fails to pay any royalty payable on or before the due date or any extension thereof allowed by the Zambia Revenue Authority Commissioner General, the Commissioner General may by order served on the holder, prohibit the disposal of any mineral from the mining area concerned until an arrangement has been made that is acceptable to the Commissioner General for the payment of the royalties,” the bill reads.

The bill states that any holder of a mining right who contravenes or fails to comply with an order given commits an offence and shall be liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand penalty units or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or both.

In the case of a corporate body, it would be liable to a fine not exceeding one million penalty units.

“Where payment of any royalty is deferred, it shall be accumulated with any other deferred payment of royalty which is outstanding and the amount outstanding should be payable when the royalty is due,” the bill states.

It states that holders of large-scale mining and gemstone licences and small scale mining and gemstone licences shall pay a mineral royalty at the rate of three per cent of the normal value of the base metals produced or recoverable under the licence.

The bill is to be tabled in Parliament this week for second reading.

In the 1995 Mines and Minerals Act, a royalty is payable but calculated at two per cent of the market value of minerals, less the cost of smelting, refining and insurance, handling and transportation from the mining area to the point of export or delivery within Zambia.

Royalty payments could be deferred if the cash-operating margin of a holder of a large-scale mining licence falls below zero.