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Maamba to invest $600m By Business Reporter
By Business Reporter
MAAMBA Collieries Limited will invest US$108 million in a new processing plant and another $508 million in constructing a thermal power plant.
Speaking at a news briefing in Lusaka, Maamba Collieries chief executive officer, Kalunga Mumba said the money would be invested in the next 18 months.
He anticipated that in the next two weeks, new equipment at the mine should start arriving into the country.
The mine has since auctioned all its obsolete machinery as it was modernising its plant.
The arrival of the pieces of equipment was derailed because of the poor state of the road because of the unprecedented rainfall that the country recorded in the previous season.
On February 28, Nava Bharat acquired a 65 per cent stake in Maamba Collieries, Zambia’s largest coal mine.
“The first part has been the recapitalisation and we are going to invest $108 million in the new plant and the processing of coal and putting up new structures.
‘‘We are going to spend between $440 million to $508 million in putting up a thermal power plant,” he said.
The construction of the 300 megawatts thermal power plant that would take two years would be done in February next year after negotiations with Zesco for a long-term power purchase agreement.
Since the acquiring of 65 per cent stake, Nava Bharat has been working at restructuring operations at the mine and currently, the mine is up-to-date in terms of paying workers’ monthly salaries.
Mr Mumba said previously, workers at Maamba went for months without a salary but the situation had now improved.
“There is $60 million for paying of existing employees, liabilities and all the creditors and we are now paying all the retirees, we are up-to-date in terms of paying salaries,” Mr Mumba said.
In the last five years, Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH), which holds 35 per cent shares on behalf of the Government, invested $25 million to revamp the operations at the mine.
Despite putting in such monies, the mine had in the last five years not been operational.
He was happy that Nava Bharat had allowed indigenous Zambians to occupy management positions.