Zambia: Zambia Poised to Wield Economic PowerThe Times of Zambia...

Zambia: Zambia Poised to Wield Economic Power
The Times of Zambia (Ndola)

29 August 2007
Posted to the web 29 August 2007

Terence Musuku


JUDGING by every indication currently, Zambian natural endowments are infinite to determine both in diversify and abundance. At best to make a postulation, Zambia is among the God-blessed countries in Africa and the world.

In mineral resources, Zambia derives economic development and self-pride from the exploitation of copper, cobalt, gold, zinc-lead, coal, mica, emerald and a range of semi-precious gemstones.


Since 1890, now 117 years - well-over a century - when Zambia nationhood was established under the administration of British South Africa Company, these mineral resources have constituted, year in year out, Zambia's economic mainstay.

Copper-cobalt mining, of course, has been hailed in economic sense not only as the "life-blood" but the "flagship" of the natural resources Zambia is endowed with: no less than 80 per cent of Zambian foreign currency earnings comes from copper-cobalt export.

Nor is this all?...arising from the recent discovery of high grade uranium deposits, Zambia is now well-poised to wield counter-economic importance among, specifically, the world economic and nuclear super-powers on advantageous grounds.

Chauvinistic super-nuclear powers are currently five - United States of America, Britain, Russia, France, and China. Additional rising nuclear-powers include, India, Pakistan and covertly, US-propelled Israel - virtually a US satellite state.

Zambia abounds in uranium mineral with mining viability, Zambian Mines Minister Dr Kalombo Mwansa, has made this revelation in the affirmative based on geological findings undertaken extensively in North-Western and Southern provinces of Zambia.

As evaluated and ascertained by geological experts, the Zambian uranium mineral resources are economically viable. As a direct effect and consequence, therefore, the potential mining and export of uranium promises to enhance Zambian economic development through diversification of the mining industry desirably.

In Southern Province, as Dr Mwansa said, huge uranium deposits have been found in Kariba area by OmegaCamp explorers of minerals and in North-Western Province, by Equinox Minerals Limited, a copper mining company.

Exalted and optimistic Dr Mwansa added: "there is a lot of prospecting works being undertaken both in Kariba area of Southern Province and in North-Western Province , to determine uranium deposits. In North-Western Province, uranium has been found as a viable by-product of copper mining".

The management of Equinox Minerals, the copper mining operating in North-Western Province, has confirmed the discovery of high-grade uranium deposits at two of the exploration sites - Lumwana Project and Malundwe Project - where the results have shown intercepts above 0.3 per cent of uranium.

Company president and chief executive officer, Craig Williams has disclosed that from drilling programme undertaken, the company has been able to define discrete and coherent mineralised zones with significant uranium grades at Malundwe.

Unfortunately, the world market has been hit hardest by short supplies of uranium recourses. Uranium-seeking nations are stalking in search of uranium resources here and everywhere possible.

Outside Africa, no more than six countries have uranium endowments: France , Australia, Canada, United States, Russia and China. From 1955 until 1970; United States was the leading uranium mining country in the world. Canada has taken over the lead.

In Africa, five countries have uranium mineral resources: South Africa ranked first, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Angola, Gabon and Zambia on the threshold of becoming the latest uranium mining nation in Africa.

The current belligerency of United States critically considered, no one can rule out the possibility of the Western world V Eastern world returning to the cold war show-down. This is looming

When and if this happens, the few uranium mining countries, - now including Zambia - stand to gain quantum leaps in their respective economic developments through uranium supply deals with cold war belligerent nations.

Zambia, hitherto a little-known country on the world map, is bound to attract and wield counter-economic importance in the eyes of and among the super-economic and super-military powers.

It goes without saying that, from warring confrontations, in warring times, few nations that supply the sinews of war (armaments) achieve increasing economies of their countries.

All Zambia needs to do now, is to constitute a "council of uranium mining experts" for formulation of far-reaching policies, in national interest, concerning the running and operations of the newly-born uranium mining industry.

Zambia has everything to learn from the history of United States: during the Second World War, US chose to sit on the fence and consequently, become the only supplier of war-weapons to all warring nations in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

Their stance taken, more than anything else, largely accounted for the US to amass world economic power and, ultimately, became the dreadful super-nuclear power today in the world.

The US, however, only got dragged into the Second World War lately in 1941 when Japanese carrier-based aircraft unleashed bombing attack virtually destroying the US fleet in Pearl Harbour.

Without making a postulation, God endowed Zambia with uranium mineral resources for a specific purpose: as a means of attaining economic development through supply of the same, now in paucity at international market. What else can one say?