Zambia copper output to rise to 1.2 mln in 2009

(Reuters) - Zambia's total finished copper output will hit 1.2 million tonnes in 2009, against a previous forecast that said the country would produce 1 million tonnes in 2011, a senior industry official said.

Tim Henderson, the Chief Executive Officer of Mopani Copper Mines (MCM), said production of copper would rise faster than expected because the life of the vast copper and cobalt mines had risen due to exploration and modern mining technologies.


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Zambia to export 200,000 tonnes maize to DRC, Namibia

(Reuters) - Zambia's government will allow a farmers' group and three other associations to export a total of 200,000 tonnes of white maize to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Namibia, an industry official said on Tuesday.

The Grain Traders of Zambia (GTA), the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU), Millers Association of Zambia (Maz) and the state Food Reserve Agency (FRA) will be given permits to export 50,000 tonnes of surplus maize and ground maize each, Maz general secretary Allan Sakala said.


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Zambia new mining taxes delayed to September - minister

(Reuters) - Zambia has launched negotiations with foreign copper mining firms on raising taxes, but expects to agree new deals in September instead of this month, Commerce and Trade minister Felix Mutati said on Tuesday.

Mutati said negotiations, including raising the mineral royalty rate to 3.0 percent from 0.6 percent, would take longer than initially expected.


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Namibia utility to raise R3 bln in bonds for growth

(Reuters) - Namibia's national power utility plans to raise 3 billion rand to expand its transmission network to neighbour Zambia, the company said on Wednesday.

Half of the money would be raised at the South African Bond Exchange, and the rest would be raised in Namibian bonds, a South African bond official close to the deal told Reuters.


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Zambia to revoke railway firm's concession

(Reuters) - Zambia plans to revoke a 20-year concession awarded to the company which operates the national railways network, a key transport route for its vast copper and cobalt mines, President Levy Mwanawasa said on Friday.

Railway Systems of Zambia (RSZ), a subsidiary of New Limpopo Bridge Investments (NLBI), will lose the concession to provide freight service -- one of the country's major privatizations -- because of its poor management, said Mwanawasa.


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