Billion dollar projects proceed at KCM and will more than double output

In an illustration of the fact that major developments on the Copperbelt will be unaffected by the new tax regime, KCM announced yesterday that its new smelter at Nchanga will launch in June, despite rising costs caused by primarily by fuel price increases.

The Post report that KCM communications advisor Sam Equamo also said construction of a new mine at Konkola Deep Mining Project (KDMP) in Chililabombwe that would allow KCM to produce 500,000 metric tones of finished copper would be completed on schedule in 2010, more than double current output of 200,000 tones.

He said the Nchanga Smelter, which is intended for processing mainly copper ore from the KDMP and has a capacity of 300,000 tonnes of finished copper per annum, was nearing completion. Equamo said costs for the KDMP and Nchanga Smelter that were initially forecast at about US $800 million could increase to $1 billion.

According to the environmental impact assessment submitted by KCM, the project would use the Finnish invented Outokumpu flash smelting technology that would be able to capture about 95 per cent of sulphur dioxide thereby releasing little into the atmosphere. Older smelters on the Copperbelt pump noxious gases across the living quarters of their own workers making living conditions unbearable.

“It is expected that KDMP will extend the mine life of Zambia’s largest copper producer by 23 years,” said Equamo. “And production using the new number four shaft will start some time next year and this will enable us to reach the ore body beneath what we are currently producing at Konkola Mine.”