Zambia’s 2021 copper production falls by 4.5% – statistics agency
Copper production in Zambia dropped to 800 696 t last year from 837 996 t the year before, data obtained from the nation’s statistics agency showed on Tuesday.
Zambia’s cobalt production also dropped to 247 t last year from 316 t a year earlier, according to the Zambia Statistics Agency.
The Zambia Chamber of Mines said the reduced output was mainly due to operational challenges arising from a lack of recapitalisation due to an unattractive mining tax regime.
“It is only now that we are seeing mining companies recapitalising after mineral royalty was made a deductible expense,” chamber CE Sokwani Chilembo told Reuters.
Mining companies operating in Zambia had long complained about what they called “double taxation”, with mineral royalty payments not treated as a deductible expense when calculating corporate income tax since 2019.
