Mar 29 Oct 2013 20:26
ZCCM-IH, Collum mine in stand-off
ZCCM-IH, Collum mine in stand-off
Posted October 29, 2013 by Chanda Davies in Business
http://www.times.co.zm/?p=39075
By MAIMBOLWA MULIKELELA -
NEGOTIATIONS on the transfer of Collum Coal Mine assets to Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) have stalled due to disputes arising from the value of mine assets.
Mines, Energy and Water Development acting permanent secretary in charge of mines Mooya Lumamba disclosed in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that there was a stand-off on the negotiations for the transfer of Collum Coal Mine assets to the new owners ZCCM-IH.
Mr Lumamba said that the negotiations between Collum Coal Mine and ZCCM-IH had hit a snag as a result of the differences in the value of the assets, saying that the Chinese were demanding more money from Government for their assets.
“In order for ZCCM-IH to start the operations, they need to conclude the negotiations on the transfer of the mine assets with the previous owners.
“To this effect, the evaluations were carried out by the Government which assesed the value of the assets but now the previous owners have denied the figures and are demanding five times higher than what has been proposed,” he said.
Mr Lumamba, who is substantively mines director, said it was important that the assets were passed on to ZCCM-IH for the continued operation of the mine.
He said as a result of that, Government through ZCCM-IH may decide to engage an independent evaluator to re-do the exercise to end the stand-off.
Mr Lumamba could not disclose how much the mine assets were valued at but said the figures would be announced once the negotiations were concluded.
With regard to the statutory obligations, he said, discussions were being held by the various Government agencies with the previous owners of Collum Coal Mine to recover their money.
Early this year, the Government revoked licences for the Chinese-owned coal mine over poor safety and environmental compliance, as well as failure to pay mineral royalties.
The Government had cancelled all three mining licences held by Collum Coal Mine.