Luanshya Copper Mines

CLM

ACTIVE

China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group (CNMC) - CNMC acquired an 85% stake in Luanshya Copper Mines (“LCM”) in 2009 for US$ 50 million from Enya Holdings BV (“Enya”) following the suspension of operations at Baluba Centre Mine in the advent of the Global Financial Crisis. Immediately post-acquisition, CNMC changed the name of the mine to CNMC Luanshya Copper Mines (“CNMC-LCM”), and it initially held an 85% shareholding stake in CNMC-LCM, and later transferred a 5% stake to Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) to achieve a 80 %: 20% shareholding structure per the terms of the acquisition. Therefore, ZCCM-IH currently holds a 20% stake whilst CNMC holds an 80% stake. Luanshya Copper Mines, located in Zambia’s Copperbelt Province, is one of the country’s oldest copper mining assets, dating back to the early 20th century. The mine has long been central to the town of Luanshya, but over the years, it experienced periods of closure and ownership changes due to fluctuating copper prices, under-investment, and operational challenges. By the early 2000s, the Baluba underground mine—then the main producing asset—was struggling financially. After a series of privatizations and failed turnarounds, the mine was eventually shut down in 2008 by its then-owner, Enya Holdings, citing the global financial crisis and operational losses.In 2009, China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group (CNMC), a Chinese state-owned enterprise, entered the picture and the mine has been operational producing copper.

Country

Zambia

Province

Copperbelt Province

Start Date

2009

Minerals
cobaltcopper

Annual Production

YearStatusBauxiteCopperCobaltLithiumTantalum
2023operational-----

Mining Details

Mining TypeOpen Pit
Area (Hectares)160
Permit Validity18–20 years
Coordinates-13.1325°, 28.3922°

The project is located in Copperbelt Province, approximately 30 km southwest of Ndola and 42 km southeast of Kitwe. The Luanshya Mine project consists of two major projects encompassing three mines called Muliashi Shallow Mine; Mashiba Joint Mine Project and Deep Sulfide Mining Project. China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group injected $500 million investment to dewater and redevelop Shaft 28 and offtake underground and shallow sulfide deposits. Designed capacity: 800,000 tpa ore for shallow resources and 2.2 million tpa for deep sulfide resources, with an estimated mine life of 18 years.

Ownership

China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group (CNMC)
80%
Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM)
20%

Deposit Size

Total Ore

145 million tonnes of copper ore

Over 145 million tonnes of copper ore (combined estimates from historic and current operations).

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