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KCM completes Nkana refinery expansion By Business Reporter
By Business Reporter
KONKOLA Copper Mines (KCM) has completed expanding the $43 million Nkana refinery in Kitwe which will increase production capacity from the current 180,000 to 300,000 tonnes per annum.
KCM chief executive officer, Kishore Kumar said the expansion programme was part of the company’s plan to raise total copper production to 500,000 tonnes by 2012 from 173,s000 produced in the year ended March 31, 2010.
Mr Kumar said the work at the refinery involved the physical expansion of the plant and the installation of new modern equipment to improve efficiency in the production of refined copper.
“We are on course to produce 500,000 tonnes of finished copper by 2012 and currently we are working on various projects that will ensure that we increase our capacity to hoist ore from underground,” Mr Kumar said.
He said in Chililabombwe that KCM wanted to align the refinery’s capacity to its new Nchanga smelter, which was commissioned in 2008.
KCM, which commissioned the Konkola Deep Mining Project (KDMP) on Tuesday, is expected to raise its production capacity and praised the Government for the support it was receiving.
President Rupiah Banda, who officially commissioned both the KDMP and Nchanga smelter, said the Government would continue to support projects in the mining industry.
During commissioning, the president said the Zambian mining sector was growing and was on course to recapture its status as one of the leading copper producers in the world.
The Zambian mining industry then under ZCCM produced a total of 750,000 tonnes of copper per year and was the top producer in Africa.
The newly-commissioned Nchanga smelter has an installed capacity of 311,000 tonnes per year and will process much of the copper ore to be produced from the KDMP.