By ALICE NACHILEMBE
Lubambe Copper Mines Chief Executive Officer Nick Bowen has said that the mine is targeting to improve copper production by 60 percent to reach 36,000 tons in 2019.
Mr Bowen said this won’t be easy but it is achievable.
He said once the mine starts to reach 36,000 to 40 000 tons of copper all stakeholders would benefit.
Mr Bowen said the basis of buying the mine was to improve operations and make it sustainable from the levels it was before.
“Now we have a five year plan path to turn things around and in the first year we have made a lot of change. The ore from underground has increased by 40 percent in one year and the copper has increased by 22 percent we have mined 22,000 tons in 12 months.
He said that this mine needs to get to a level where it is sustainable for the community, employees and government to benefit.
Mr Bowen said the mine is putting in great effort to improve the safety standards and it has scored.
“And in our first year we have made an improvement with a solid performance but there is still much more to do,” he said.
And Mines Minister Richard Musukwa said on company focus that the company is on firm ground.
Mr Musukwa said one of the critical things of this operation is sustainability, the mine should be able to sustain itself.
He said the mine should be able to sustain itself otherwise stake holders will not be perpetually putting resources in the mining operation.
