Copper: Humanity’s first and most important future metal
Millions of feet of copper wiring will be required for strengthening the world’s power grids, and hundreds of thousands of tonnes more are needed to build wind and solar farms.
Vedanta Resources said on Thursday a Zambian court has issued an order halting any move by the provisional liquidator of its Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) business to dispose of KCM’s assets or make arrangements with its creditors.
Zambian state mining company ZCCM-IH holds about 20% of KCM, while Vedanta Resources, part-owner of the Mumbai-listed Vedanta group of companies, holds a majority.
Zambia’s dispute with Vedanta began in May when the government of Africa’s second biggest copper producer appointed a liquidator to run KCM, saying it had breached its licence. Vedanta Resouces has denied this is the case.
China’s Nonferrous Metals Mining Corporation (CNMC), commodities trader ETG Group and a Turkish firm have expressed interest in buying a stake in KCM, a senior government source said last month, on condition of anonymity.
The government source said CNMC had offered $2 billion for KCM, adding there had also been talks with ETG Group, a diversified commodity trader active across Africa.
(By Chris Mfula and Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Jan Harvey)
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