Zambia says Glencore declares 'force majeure' to shut copper mines, will block move
LUSAKA – Zambia said on Tuesday that Glencore has declared "force majeure" and will shut its copper mines in the country, adding that the government would block the move which would result in 11 000 people losing their jobs.
Mines Minister Richard Musukwa said Glencore plans to put its Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) operations under "care and maintenance" for three months from Tuesday as the global coronavirus outbreak weighs on copper prices and restricts the movement of key staff.
"The Government of the Republic of Zambia rejects this attempt by Mopani to put the mines in Kitwe and Mufulira on care and maintenance because it does not conform with the law," Musukwa said in a written statement.
A Glencore spokesman had no immediate comment on whether the company had taken such a step.
Triggering a force majeure clause in contracts allows certain terms of an otherwise legally binding agreement to be ignored because of unavoidable circumstances.
"The Ministry is not aware of any event that has happened that is beyond the reasonable control of MCM and which makes mining impossible," said Musukwa.
He also said Glencore did not provide the Zambian government with sufficient notice of the closure which will impact jobs.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation