Zambia denies previous reports of closing the Konkola copper mine

An official from Zambia's Ministry of Mines said on Thursday that (KCM) at the country's Konkola copper mine had not been temporarily or permanently closed, denying previous foreign media reports.

Earlier, foreign media quoted Barnaby Mulenga, an official of the country's Ministry of Mining, as saying that production had to be stopped due to a lack of funds to mine the underground mine of the, Konkola Deep copper mine and other facilities in KCM.

"the Konkola copper mine continues to operate," Mulenga said on Thursday.

"there is no evidence that production has been suspended or stagnated and production continues."

Zambia handed control of KCM to the interim liquidator in May 2019, sparking a legal dispute with Vedanta (Vedanta).

Milingo Lungu, the interim liquidator, said in a message: "the Konkola copper mine is currently in operation and there are no maintenance plans for the time being or in the future."

KCM has previously said that once the, Konkola Deep copper mine is fully operational, it will increase the company's copper production to 400000 tons per year and extend the mining time of the mine by more than 30 years, but this will require a lot of investment.

Zambia's copper production reached a record high of 882061 tonnes in 2020, up 10.8 per cent from the previous year, according to the Zambian Ministry of Mines.