Zambia’s Muliashi mine to producce 80,000t/y of copper in 2008

The Muliashi copper mine in Zambia will produce up to 80,000 tons of copper a year when reaches full production in the third quarter of 2008, Luanshya Copper Mines chief executive officer Derek Webbstock said in a statement Wednesday.

Luanshya Copper mines, which operates Chambishi Metals PLC, is owned by J&W Investments.

The Muliashi mine was initially expected to produce 50,000 metric tons of copper a year, but J&W Investments has upgraded mine resources and output is expected to average 80,000 tons a year in its 10-year life span, officials at the Zambian Ministry of Mines said.

In 2006, Luanshya’s copper output is estimated to have reached 67,500 tons.

Investment in the Zambian mining industry is increasing following the mass mine privatization started in the late 1990s, and has been boosted by a rise in world copper prices. Zambia’s 2007 copper output is seen at 600,000 tons.

Since 2003, about $2 billion has been invested in the Zambia’s mining industry, according to a report from the mining ministry.



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