Vedanta Resources Holdings (Vedanta) has taken back full management control of Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) more than five years after it was booted out of the mine asset.
Announcing the appointment and reinstatement of the company’s board of directors Tuesday, chief executive officer of Vedanta Base Metals Chris Griffith stated that the development is a necessary first step to Vedanta ramping up production and working towards unlocking KCM’s full potential.
KCM possesses some the world’s largest and richest deposits of copper ore but has so far hardly lived up to its potential.
The Zambian government and Vedanta ceased all legal proceedings against each other in the last couple of weeks, with Vedanta having paid US$245.75 million into a court-designated escrow account in accordance with the Scheme of Arrangement agreed in June.
Forthwith, KCM has begun to dismantle its debt arrears to various creditors. So far, it has settled K49 million owed to three local authorities on the Copperbelt.
Chingola Municipal Council has been paid K26.1 million, Chililabombwe Municipal Council was credited with K8.1 million, and K14.9 million went to the Kitwe City Council.
Many other creditors, including contractors and suppliers of goods and services are in line to receive their payments soon. The expectation was that funds should have been disbursed to them by the end of July.
These cashflows into many institutions, companies and individuals are expected to positively impact the Copperbelt economy.
