Owing to planned infrastructure improvements, Zambia’s mining sector is headed for a growth phase, notes Independent consulting firm SRK Consulting. Principal mining engineering consultant Boniface Mwila says mine expansion and new projects in Zambia are already reflected in rising mining output that is boosting the gross domestic product.

“The country managed a strong growth rate of 6.5 % in 2013, supported by a 20% rise in copper output last year. This trend is set to continue as some key mines expand and new projects come to fruition,” says Mwila.

He highlights Kansanshi mine, owned by mining companies Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings and First Quantum Minerals, which will help push Zambia’s copper production to historic levels over the next three to four years. The operation’s new smelter will take the mine’s yearly output to about 400 000 t by 2015.

“To put this into perspective, copper production in Zambia peaked at 700 000 t a year in the 1970s before dropping back to 255 000 t in 1998,” Mwila highlights.

However, he says that this growth can only be sustained by better infrastructure. National energy shortages, for example, have prompted many mines to install their own power generation equipment, which is expensive to run and substantially raises the cost of mining.

“The good news on this front is that 210 MW was added to the grid over the past year following the rehabilitation and upgrading of three major hydropower stations, including the Kafue Gorge and Victoria Falls hydropower stations.

“There was also the commissioning of the Kariba North Bank Extension power station’s first generator unit last December, which will generate 360 MW. There are others in the pipeline, including the giant $2-billion Kafue Gorge Lower hydropower project, which will add another 750 MW to the grid by 2018, bringing the country’s total capacity to over 3 000 MW,” Mwila points out.

Road infrastructure is also in the spotlight, with the Link Zambia 8000 plan, which aims to rehabilitate and construct almost 7 600 km of high-quality, single- and dual-lane road countrywide. Mwila says priority routes include the road from Solwezi to Kazungula, with a spur to Kasumbalesa.

“A new bridge at Kazungula, about 60 km west of Livingstone, will replace the existing ferry system over the Zambezi river. With one-stop border-crossing facilities, the bridge will hopefully cut down on transit time and reduce the cost of trade. “Other priority routes are the roads from Kapiri Mposhi to Nakonde, and from Lusaka to Mchinji via Chipata,” he adds.

For the transportation of bulk-mined commodities, however, roads are not ideal, Mwila notes, adding that a better rail network is the only solution to provide a cost-effective and sustainable method of transportation for most mines.

The Zambia government decided to terminate the concession rights to Railway Systems of Zambia in 2003, and is now planning for Zambia Railways to construct and rehabilitate five new rail lines over the next five years.

These include the line from Chingola to Jimbe, on the border of Angola, which goes through Solwezi to enhance freight and passenger transport using the Port of Lobito Bay, in Angola. The line from Kafue to Zawi, in Zimbabwe, will link the Zambia Railway line to the Beira port, in Mozambique. The line from Nseluka to the Mpulungu port links Mpulungu to the Tanzania–Zambia Railways (Tazara) line at Nseluka to facilitate imports and exports from the Great Lakes region to the sea ports on the Indian Ocean.

Msilwa says there will also be an extension of the Mchinji–Chipata line to Tazara, linking the Mchinji–Chipata line through Petauke District to the Port of Nacala, in Mozambique. Finally, the Livingstone to Sesheke line involves the partial rehabilitation of the Mulobezi line, a spur between Livingstone and Katima Mulilo through Kazungula, and a connection to the Namibian railway system as part of the Walvis Bay–Livingstone–Lusaka–Ndola–Lubumbashi corridor.

“In a land-locked country like Zambia, where mines face long distances between their operations and the nearest ports, these plans to turn Zambia into a ‘regional trade hub’ can only be good news,” Mwila states.

Looking ahead, he highlights the growing demand for technical engineering studies in the various aspects of mining projects and operations, as well as for infrastructure development in the road and rail network, and in water systems and power generation capacity.

SRK Consulting has been involved with integrated copper producer Konkola Copper Mines for 40 years. The consultancy worked at the Chibuluma copper mine during the restructuring of midtier mining group Metorex and its purchase by China-based mining company Jinchuan. The company has been involved in water management at gold mining major Barrick Gold-owned Lumwana.