Zambia: Tax row hits copper production

ZAMBIA would this year not produce more copper than it did last year after a tax dispute with operators caused output to slow, Mines, Energy and Water Development Minister Christopher Yaluma said on Wednesday. Africa’s second-biggest producer of the metal introduced a new tax regime in January that scrapped profit tax for mining companies and lifted royalties to as high as 20 percent. Following threats of job losses and closures, the government said it would lower royalties and reinstate the profit tax from July 1. “There’s been a lot of uncertainty for four or five months,” Yaluma said . The country produced 708 258 tons in 2014, a three-year low, according to the mines ministry. – Bloomberg