Barely 2 days to the largest mining indaba in Cape Town, Mines Minister in Africa’s second largest copper producer Zambia announced a decision the Board of ZCCM-IH has taken to terminate its CEO Dr. Pius Kasolo’s contract. This was contained in a media briefing statement by Mines Minister Richard Musukwa on 01 February.
The decision the state mining investment vehicle ZCCM-IH comes a day after Kasolo issued a controversial statement on the newly proposed mining tax regime, citing the negative impact it will have on mining firms profitability. Kasolo was quoted saying the new tax regime would impact dividends on mining firms. The Economic Association of Zambia (EAZ) retaliated with a statement from its Copperbelt Chapter through its Chairman Mathews Muyembe who dubbed Kasolo’s sentiments as ill-founded especially at a time when mining impasse was subsiding after key stakeholders are currently in dialogue for a win-win with the authorities.
The copper producer has introduced a higher mineral royalty tax system that is 1.5% higher than the previous year with a new 10% flat tax if the price of copper exceeds USD$7,500/MT. Despite reluctance and threats to lay off employees, most key mines such as Glencore’s Mopani, Vedanta’s Konkola Copper Mines, China Non Ferrous Metals – CNMC’s Luanshya Copper Mine and First Quantum Mining Kalumbila and Kansanshi committed to preserving jobs.
ZCCM-IH manages the Zambian governments stake in the mining companies.