Zambia limits no of licence companies can hold

The Zambian government has placed a number on mining licensees companies can purchase. Paul Kabuswe, mines minister revealed the report and said the government aims to promote investments with the rule.

The restrictions follows suspension of issuance of mining licences in February. The ministry of mines commissioned an audit in response to public complaints about a lack of transparency. Mr. Kabuswe said companies can now only have five licences and those that need more will have to justify their need.

Mining rights

“Initial process audit findings have confirmed our fears that some companies own too many mining rights, using either a single or multiple companies with the same beneficial owners. We have had a lot of licences being used for speculative purposes and we want to curtail that. The audit show that some companies own as many as 50 licences. It also found that some were not registered with Zambia’s patents and companies registration agency and may not be paying tax. The licensing department, which was expected to re-open on April 11, will resume work on Oct. 19. Illegal miners would be given 90 days of amnesty to register with the ministry of mines,” said Kabuswe.

Zambia possesses one of the world’s highest-grade deposits of copper and is ranked the seventh largest copper producer in the world.  In addition, Zambia is home to small, exploitable deposits of cobalt, nickel, and manganese.  Copper contributes over 70% of the country’s foreign export earnings.

Zambia produces about 20% of the world’s emeralds.  The mining sector is governed and regulated by the Mines and Minerals Development Act No. 11 of 2015, which covers types of mining rights, acquisition of mining rights, rights/obligations conferred on the mining right holder, transferability of mining rights, safety, health, and environment requirements, and provides for the environmental protection fund, mineral royalties, fees and charges, and export of minerals.