Mining in Zambia

[8][7][9] Indigenous people in what is now Zambia mined surface deposits for copper long before colonisation, They fashioned the metal into ingots for hand tools, weapons, and as a medium of exchange.

Mining continued to decline as copper prices decreased while increasingly deep and more complex ores raised production costs.

[10] After the 1991 election of President Chiluba, the mining industry began to be privatised in a process overseen by the IMF and the World Bank.

[13] Zambia produces copper, cobalt, gold, nickel, manganese, emeralds, beryllium, myriad gemstones, sulfur, zinc, coal, iron ore, steel, limestone, uranium and other platinum-group metals.

There were significant differences between countries in how these taxes are calculated and as a result, a comparison of 'headline rates' on their own provide limited insight into how would-be investors perceive the mining sector.

[22] They argued that perceptions offer an alternative and complementary approach to examine how Zambia compares from investors perspective to other countries.

Using the Fraser Index component covering taxes and fees specifically, Zambia is in the middle of African countries, on par with South Africa, worse than Botswana, but better than the DRC.

Perceptions that the taxes and fees for mining in Zambia are attractive does not necessarily mean the fiscal rates are themselves attractive (and vice versa) as investors tend to view taxes and fees in a broader context of risks to existing framework including its historical volatility and expectations regarding future changes, the possibility of negotiating a deal which is 'better' than the 'official' headline rates through exemptions or allowances, and other factors shaping the economics of the project for example if the geology is very favourable and extraction is low-cost, a firm will be able to accept a higher tax rate.

Government and its development partners have a role to play in promoting policies that make investment more attractive, such as increasing the predictability of the taxes and fees whilst reducing the costs of mining, from infrastructure to skills and quality of geodata.

A study by the Blacksmith Institute found Kabwe to be one of the ten worst polluted and deadliest places in the world due mostly to heavy metal (mostly Zinc, Cadmium and Lead) tailings making their way into local soil and water supply.