The Zambian Mines Minister Richard Musukwa said he would not let Glencore to proceed with the plan of suspending it’s mining operations in the country as it had not complied with the law.
Miner and commodities trader Glencore (LON:GLEN) declared force majeure at its Mopani Copper Mines unit (MCM) in Zambia and plans to suspend operations in the country for three months, mines minister revealed.
Musukwa added that the government had also rejected the miner’s attempt to give it less than 24 hours’ notice to lay off more than 11,000 workers.
“The Ministry is not aware of any event that has happened that is beyond the reasonable control of MCM and which makes mining impossible,” Musukwa said.
Glencore, which separated its African copper business from its wider copper operations last year, launched in March a review of MCM aimed at cutting spending. It said at the time that lower copper prices and uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic had taken their toll.
Mopani Copper Mines, which produced 119,000 tonnes of copper in 2018, is 73.1% owned by Glencore, 16.9% by First Quantum Minerals and 10% by Zambia’s mining investment arm ZCCM-IH
