Zambia misses 2010 copper output target
Zambia narrowly
missed its 2010 copper output target due to temporary shutdowns at some
mines but Africa’s top producer was on track to dig out a million
tonnes by 2012, its mines minister said on Thursday.
Maxwell Mwale told
Reuters that 2010 copper output rose to 740,000 tonnes from 697,860
tonnes in 2009, below a 750,000 tonnes target for the year after some
companies briefly halted operations for maintaince.
China Non-Ferrous
Metals Corp. suspended production at its Baluba copper mine in Zambia
from November15 for 45 days to replace its ore hoisting system.
“We managed to
produce 740,000 tonnes of copper against our target of 750,000 tonnes,
but we are still on course to reach one million tonnes by 2012,” Mr.
Mwale said.
“We are ramping up
operations at major operations such as the Konkola Deep Mining project
and that will enable us reach the one million target,” he added.
Mr. Mwale said copper prices were expected to remain high in 2011, giving mining companies the incentive to raise their output.
He also said Zambia was looking for local and international firms to help it explore for copper and other minerals.
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