State loses millions in illegal Mansa mining
By Judith Hara
THE Government is losing millions of Kwacha in revenue per annum through illegal manganese mining in Mansa, Luapula Province, Town Clerk Brighton Mbaimbai has disclosed.
The local authority has since appealed to the Ministry of Mines and Natural Resources to help curb the vice and compel the mining firms in the region to start paying taxes.
Mr Mbaimbai, who could not say exactly how much the Government was losing, said the situation was due to the failure by manganese extraction firms in the province to formalise their operations with the relevant authorities.
In addition, the mining companies did not even appear in the Mansa Council Valuation Roll to compel them to pay the taxes through the local authorities.
In an interview from Mansa yesterday, Mr Mbaimbai disclosed that seven mining companies had so far been issued with large-scale mining licences but that, they had not formalised their operations with the council,leading to the loss of revenue.
Manganese mining firms in Mansa were supposed to be the largest contributor to Government and council revenue in terms of taxes but they were not paying anything.
“These mining companies are currently mining without leaving anything for the Government and the council. This is so because the mines are not appearing anywhere in our valuation roll and deeds records, although some of the mining firm’s activities are legal,” Mr Mbaimbai explained.
The town clerk named some of the legal mining companies operating there as Genesis, Taurian, Tycoon and Amanita, while others were operating illegally.
All these were not paying any revenue to either the Government and the council.
Mr Mbaimbai said the Ministry of Mines had awarded large-scale mining licences to the companies but the council had no proof of ownership of the land.
He said the council wrote to the mining companies asking them to formalise their businesses but they had not done so, forcing the local authorities to write the Ministry of Mines to compel them to start paying taxes but even the ministry has equally not responded to date.
Mr Mbaimbai said the mining companies must realise that they had a duty to pay taxes to authorities as it was from the mines where the Government and the council would generate revenue.
Labels: MANGANESE, MANSA DISTRICT, MINING
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Investors mining manganese upset chief Chimese
By Misheck Wangwe in Mansa
Thu 22 Dec. 2011, 13:27 CAT
CHIEF Chimese of Mansa says he is upset with the manganese mining investors who have continued to exploit his subjects and have failed to honour their corporate social responsibility in his chiefdom.
Speaking when a group of journalists, musicians and members of the Citizens Forum and the Local Government Association of Zambia paid a courtesy call on him at his palace in Mansa, chief Chimese said the new government through the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources must come up with serious interventions to protect the interests of the locals on the mining of manganese in Luapula.
He said with the change of government, people were hopeful that the PF government would put things right unlike the previous MMD regime that failed to protect the interests of the local people in manganese mining.
Chief Chimese said it was unacceptable for the people working for small and large scale investors in the manganese mines to be paid meager salaries when the investors were making huge sums of money.
"I urge the new government not to do things without consulting us. This is the problem we saw with the previous MMD government. They used to make decisions in Lusaka and issue mining licences to bogus investors without consulting us the locals. On several occasions, I appealed to the then minister of mines Maxwell Mwale to intervene but our calls were in vain. My prayer is that the PF government will do things differently," chief Chimese said.
He said government must stop issuance of mining licences on manganese until after scrutinising the operations of the current investors.
Chief Chimese said the voice of the poor in Luapula over their rich mineral wealth was not heard because the government was not willing to listen to their cries.
He said it was unacceptable that his chiefdom had no proper roads, schools and other important infrastructure when it was rich in mineral resources such as manganese.
"Why should our people continue suffering when this is a land of plenty in terms of minerals? Our people working for these investors are given slave wages and conditions. They can't even meet the needs of their families but they are working. We are watching, they are taking our minerals and one day we will remain with empty trenches if nothing is done by the government to correct the situation," he said.
The chief said his desire was to see the lives of the people in the 251 villages uplifted as there was no excuse for them to continue suffering when there was a government in place.
Labels: CHIEFS, CITIZENS FORUM, FDI, MANGANESE
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COMMENT - With this little local consultation, 'investors' should not be surprised when their projects are nationalized. 'People should not wait for the government' - because the government is too busy lining it's own pockets. But their day of reckoning will come.
Indian investor plans Africa’s largest manganese plant in Serenje
By Mutale Kapekele
Wed 06 Apr. 2011, 04:00 CAT
An Indian investor is setting up Africa’s largest manganese processing plant in Serenje district, says Central Province permanent secretary Denny Lumbama. In an interview in Kabwe, Lumbama disclosed that ground works had already started for the construction of the plant which will process manganese from Congo, Zambia and other countries in the region.
Africa has for a long time mined manganese, which is exported raw and this is the first time that the metal will be processed. Lumbama also said the 150,000 hectare Nansanga farming bloc was ready for occupation and that social services such as water and electricity were already in place.
The Zambia Development Agency has accepted bids for the main developer of the farming bloc and is yet to announce the successful bidder.
Lumbama said interviews for plots had already commenced and that only four people will be allowed to compete for each plot to avoid previous experiences of as much as thirty people fighting for each piece of land.
He said so far, the province had received applications from investors in Hungary, India, Australia and Zambia, as well as some farmers from Mkushi.
He said the airstrip in Serenje was now operational and that it will make it easier for investors to access the Nansanga farming bloc.
Lumbama also called for a change of mindset on the part of Zambians for them to benefit from economic activities.
He said people should not always rely on the government to do things for them but must initiate projects that will benefit them economically.
“People should not say what will the government do for me but say ‘what should I do for myself and my country?’ It has to take an individual to be an entrepreneur,” said Lumbama. “If we get it right, we can move a great deal as a country.”
Labels: DENNY LUMBAMA, EASTERN PROVINCE, MANGANESE
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Senior Chief Mwata Kazembe bemoans indiscriminate mining
Monday, August 2, 2010, 8:19
Senior Chief Mwata Kazembe of the Lunda people in Luapula province has bemoaned the indiscriminate mining of manganese going on in the province. And the Mwata has implored government to accelerate the assembling of the pontoon at Kashiba across the Luapula River to boost trade between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The Mwata appealed to government to counter-check the uncoordinated and rampant illegal mining in Luapula province. Mwata Kazembe said this during this year’s Umutomboko Traditional Ceremony for the Lunda people in Mwansabombwe yesterday.
He said a number of investors in the mining sector are going to the province with exploration licenses but instead end up carrying out full scale mining activities.
He said the mining companies and individuals are flouting the exploration mining facility and government should look into the issue and intervene immediately.
The traditional ruler said there is need to devise a legal framework to regulate and formalise mining activities for the government and its people to reap from the mineral.
The Mwata noted that as a result government was losing out on revenue because of the haphazard mining going on in the province as it does not collect any returns for the benefit of the people in the province and country as a whole.
He said the people of Luapula want investors in the mining industry to invest in long term and large scale mining that could create employment for them.
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There is need to improve power supply in the province in order to support creation of large scale mining in the province because at present the power supply is so low and it is affecting the improvement of infrastructure needed for value addition to the minerals being mined,” The Mwata said.
The Mwata also observed that large scale mining could only take place in the province if the area was provided with adequate power supply for mining companies to set up processing plants.
He said once provided with adequate power supply the province can attract big companies to venture in mineral processing for value.
“ There is need to improve power supply in the province in order to support creation of large scale mining in the province because at present the power supply is so low and it is affecting the improvement of infrastructure needed for value addition to the minerals being mined,” The Mwata said.
The traditional ruler, therefore, called on government to utilize water falls, such as the Kabwelume, to generate electricity as this will attract large scale mining companies to the province.
And Senior Chief Mwata Kazembe has implored government to expedite the provision of a pontoon at Kashiba to link Zambia with the northern corridor trade arrangement.
The Mwata said Luapula is expected to benefit from the northern corridor once the pontoon is provided at Kashiba across the Luapula River as it will link the province to the DR Congo.
[ ZANIS ]
Labels: LUAPULA PROVINCE, MANGANESE, MWATA KAZAMBE
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Mining firms invest K15bn in 3 manganese mines
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe in Mansa
Mon 28 June 2010, 08:10 CAT
TWO local mining firms, Luapula Base Metals Limited and Genesis Group of Companies have invested US $3 million (about K15 billion) in developing three manganese mines with an annual output of 60,000 tonnes.
Genesis Group of Companies managing director Willie Crook said the joint venture mines wanted to ramp up output at the three mines in view of the improving global metal prices in the aftermath of the world economic crisis.
Crook said the mines, with current output of 4,000 tonnes per month of manganese was expecting to increase this to 5,000 after acquiring new machinery.
He said the companies were investing in new equipment such as crusher, washing plant and a new screener.
“Last year, we didn’t export anything because it was not cost effective, the price of manganese went so low that I couldn’t even deliver it to Dar es Salaam as the cost of transportation was US $140 a tonne when they were offering me US $125 a tonne,” said Crook in an interview after a delegation from Zambia Development Agency visited one of its mining sites, Kansambo, on the outskirts of Mansa.
“The world market is changing and we are changing the machinery…we are going for the small stuff which will make us do well above 5,000 tonnes per month of small material…and all these investments are close to U$ 3 million and it is increasing all the time.”
The firms run three mines at Kansambo, Kabulu and Kabasa and the manganese from Luapula, which is largely exported to China, is believed to be one of the best grades in the world and is a key input in steel manufacturing.
And Luapula Base Metals Limited Kennedy Sakeni said the mining firms were establishing a fund to ensure that some of the benefits from mining remain in communities where they operated.
Sakeni said the money from the pool was intended to be used to develop social amenities such as schools and hospitals.
“What we are opposed to is to give kickbacks to individuals. We want the benefits to trickle down to the people and we are opening a bank account this year as you know 2008/09 was very bad for the mining industry,” said Sakeni. “We have already contributed to repairing some of the community roads but I don’t go out publicly to say we are doing that but we have tried our level best to share the little that we get with the local people.”
Labels: GENESIS GROUP, LUAPULA BASE METALS LTD, MANGANESE, MINING, WILLIE CROOK
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