Lumwana starts copper productionLumwana mine in Solwezi, North...

Lumwana starts copper production
Lumwana mine in Solwezi, North Western province will commence production of copper in the next two months.

Company Managing Director, Harry Michael, says the first copper concentrate will be produced by July.

The firm is expected to reach full production capacity by the end of this year.

Mr. Michael says so far 97 percent of the work has been done on development of the mine, which is expected to officially open in September.

He told ZNBC in Lumwana that the mine is expected to increase Zambia's copper export earnings by about 10 percent.

Lumwana, which is one of the mines in world with large copper deposits, will produce about 1-hundred and 69 thousand tonnes of copper every year.

Mr. Michael said 4-thousand 7-hundred workers have been employed during the construction phase while 1-thousand 2-hundred jobs will be created once the mine starts full production.