By JOHN SAKALA
China Nonferrous Metals Company (CNMC) seems to be the bidder that will take over Konkola Copper Mines (KCM).
KCM was placed under liquidation after ZCCM-IH had applied in the Zambian High Court to have Milingo Lungu appointed as the Liquidator, the move believed to aim at divorcing the major shareholder Vedanta.
CNMC had initially visited KCM as one of the bidders but today again July 9, 2019, the bidder came with Chinese Lawyers Mr Zhang Xiangnan, Mr Liu Jin and Mr Chang SJ, Geologists, Engineers and almost all mining technocrats to help under the mine.
After making their presentation they visited Konkola Underground mine in Chililabombwe where there is high grade copper.
The presence of the two Lawyers Mr Jin and Mr Chang signaled that the process of taking over is at an advanced stage because a legal team is brought into the transaction when the deal is reaching an understanding (signing) stage.
Their pretext for the second visit was that they didn’t visit all the departments in their initial visit.
CNMC are the owners of Luanshya and Chambishi mines with an estimated assets of over K229.7 billion.
Founded in 1983, CNMC is a large-scale central enterprise under the management of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.
Its major businesses include the development of nonferrous metal mineral resources, construction engineering, and relevant trade and technological services.
CNMC has spread its business to over 80 countries and regions in the world, and covered more than 40 nonferrous metal varieties including Copper, lead, zinc, nickel, tantalum, niobium, beryllium, gold, silver and rare earth. It has also invested and run a batch of landmark mining projects in Zambia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Thailand, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tajikistan. Its subsidiaries have ranked among “Top 250 International Engineering Contractors” for consecutive years.
