Vedanta Kangkla Copper Mine in Zambia reduces its smelting business due to tax increases

SMM1, July 7-Kangkla Copper Mine, which is majority-owned by Zambia's Vedanta Resources Company (Vedanta Resources), said it suspended operations at the Nchanga copper mine after imposing import duties on copper concentrate. Zambia, Africa's second-largest copper producer, has introduced a new mining tax, raised royalties and plans to replace VAT with a sales tax by April to help ease rising debt. In a report to employees, KCM said the mine would be suspended from January 4 because of a shortage of acid supplies as a result of the rationalization of operations at the Nchanga smelter. KCM said that after the government imposed import duties on concentrate, the operation of the smelter was reduced due to insufficient supply of concentrate. "the introduction of a 5 per cent import tariff on concentrate makes smelting of imported concentrate commercially unfeasible," the company said. " KCM said it needed to import concentrate to meet smelting capacity and mixing requirements. The American Mining Association said last month that mining companies could cut more than 21000 jobs as these changes led to a reduction in capital expenditure over the next three years.