Vancouver-based First Quantum Resources is teaming up with Zambia鈥檚 Mimosa Resources to develop the Fishtie deposit which has a preliminary resource of some 500,000 tonnes of copper.
鈥淭he Fishtie project is significant as it is the first and, until very recently, the only new copper discovery which has proceeded to a mining licence in Zambia,鈥� a company representative .
to First Quantum鈥檚 president Clive Newall who said Zambia鈥檚 mining policies are 鈥渟omewhat volatile鈥� and outlined ambitious expansion plans in the country over and above the Fishtie project:
鈥淲e are investing approximately $1.7bn in our new Trident project, which includes the Sentinel copper mine and the Enterprise Nickel mine, between now and the end of 2014,鈥� he tells This is Africa. First Quantum acquired the Trident project, located in north western Zambia, in 2010.
鈥淎n additional $2bn will be put into the expansion of the group鈥檚 existing Kansanshi mine, increasing its copper output from 240,000 tonnes per year to 400,000 tonnes per year by 2014. The expansion will include developing of one of the world鈥檚 biggest copper smelters, designed to treat 1.2m tonnes of concentrate a year.鈥�
Adam Little, who heads up the firm鈥檚 tax department, as saying that the company has paid over $2 billion in taxes since 2005 and that given that the country has some of the highest mining tax and royalty structures in the world, many would 鈥渢hink twice鈥� before investing:
鈥淕overnment should encourage future development, I don鈥檛 think that means offering individual incentives to the mines 鈥淣o sweetheart deals鈥� but coming up with consistent and fair tax environment,鈥� he said.
At the start of the year First Quantum was able to extract itself from the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a $1.25 billion payment after a long legal battle.
Two years earlier the DRC government nationalized its then flagship Frontier mine but First Quantum managed to sell the asset to a Kazakhstan鈥檚 ENRC.