Tax shift cheers Vedanta unit

Konkola Copper Mines, Vedanta Resources’ Zambian unit, was “totally encouraged” by President Edgar Lungu’s resolution to a stand-off with industry over mining tax changes, chief executive Steven Din said. A system that came into effect on January 1 raised royalties and scrapped profit tax for operators in Africa’s second-biggest copper producer. “What we’re totally encouraged by and impressed with is the leadership of the president,” Din said in an interview late on Wednesday after giving a speech at the University of Zambia in Lusaka, the capital. The 30 percent profit tax and 9 percent royalty that Zambia’s cabinet agreed on is higher than the 6 percent sales levy of last year. Still, it’s a better outcome than royalties of 8 percent for underground mines and 20 percent for open pit operations. – Bloomberg