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February 2016
MODERN MINING
33
EVENTS
Jonathan Moore, MD of Investing in African Mining Indaba, welcomes delegates.
world, and particularly the depth and length
of this commodity downturn. This was forcing
mining companies to look at themselves in a
different light, and to respond accordingly. “No
mining company is untouched and each has its
own distinct issues to address; to use a wonder-
ful South African turn of phrase – everybody
has to make a plan,” he concluded.
The problems of copper mining were
addressed by – among others – Vedanta’s CEO
TomAlbanese, who said that Vedanta’s Zambian
subsidiary, Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), one
of the mainstays of the Copperbelt (and of
the towns of Chililabombwe and Chingola),
faced a range of challenges at its Konkola and
Nchanga mines, including a declining copper
price, declining grades and high strip ratios,
escalating power costs (up threefold over 10
years) and a new mineral royalty tax regime.
“It is now inevitable that there must be signifi-
cant restructuring of KCM’s business in order to
achieve breakeven cash flows and to return to
profitability,” he stated.
Turning to Vedanta’s big growth project in
South Africa, the Gamsberg zinc project in the
Northern Cape, Albanese said the first phase
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