First Quantum spokesman John Gladston declined to comment. Amos Chanda, Zambian President Edgar Lungu’s spokesman, didn’t immediately respond to a call and message seeking comment, and neither did a spokeswoman for ZCCM-IH.
The deal would also include ZCCM-IH dropping a $1.4 billion legal claim against First Quantum over a loan the company received from Kansanshi, the people said. The government is still considering the proposal, according to one of the people.
First Quantum and the government have been at loggerheads over other issues too. The country’s revenue authority handed it a $7.9 billion tax bill last year, while an increase in royalties this year prompted First Quantum to announce plans to fire 2,500 workers. The company has since backtracked on the proposal.
Kansanshi is First Quantum’s biggest mine, and accounted for more than half the company’s revenue in 2017.
(By Matthew Hill and Taonga Clifford Mitimingi)