KCM close to completing Nkana refinery expansion Written by

[bingogo]

KCM close to completing Nkana refinery expansion
Written by Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
THE Bank of Zambia (BoZ) has revealed that the country's copper production for the first eight months of this year rose by 18 per cent to 456,004 tonnes compared with the same period last year.

And Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has announced that it is close to completing the capacity expansion of its Nkana refinery from the current 250,000 tonnes per annum to 300,000 tonnes.

According to the latest BoZ fortnight statistics, copper exports were recorded at 433,666 tonnes from January to August 2009, compared with 361,550 in the same period last year.

Some mines trimmed production in 2008 and early this year following low demand for metals as a result of the global economic meltdown and a power crisis that affected the country.

The bank further stated that cobalt output fell to 2,456 tonnes from 3,088 tonnes last year, while exports were down to 2,529 tonnes in the same period this year compared with 3,105 tonnes during the eight months to August last year.

Analysts observed that cobalt output had been declining since 2008 following the closure of Chambishi Metals Plc, the country's largest producer of the metal.

And according to the latest edition of KCM News, the country’s biggest copper producer had spent around US $38 million of the US $43 million budgeted for the upgrading of Nkana Copper Refinery and that 90 per cent of the expansion work had been completed.



“The work involves the physical expansion of the plant and the installation of new modern equipment to improve efficiency in the production of refined copper,” Nkana refinery manager Henry Kangongo was quoted as saying by KCM’s internal publication.

The expansion is part of KCM's plans to raise total copper production to 500,000 tonnes by 2011 from a projected 305,000 tonnes this year.

“When the expansion works are completed, the refinery will be well equipped to play is part in KCM's push for 500,000 tonnes of copper per annum,” he said.

Kangongo said the company wanted to align the refinery's capacity to its new Nchanga smelter, which was commissioned in 2008 but was shut down on August 31 this year for maintenance and replacement of worn out refractory bricks at the unit.