Zambia's second leading copper producer, Mopani Copper Mines, has laid off up to 1,000 miners in a restructuring program aimed at coping with rising costs of production amid low global metal prices, a union official said late on Tuesday.
The lay-offs are part of cost cutting measures being implemented by the company as it seeks to keep its Zambian operations afloat, said Sikufela Mundia, the president of National Union of Miners and Allied Workers.
Mopani is a joint venture between Swiss Commodity trader Glencore International AG and Toronto-listed First Quantum Minerals Ltd. The Zambian government holds a minority stake in the company.
Union representatives are in talks with management to ensure that the laid off workers are paid their benefits, Mundia added.
The latest redundancies bring the total number of laid off miners in Zambia since December to 13,000, which is 26% of Zambia total workforce in the copper mines. Zambia is Africa's leading copper producer.
Last week, Mopani Copper Mines announced cost cutting plans in a bid to keep operating its Mufulira and Nkana Copper Mines as well as Mufulira smelter. The company has already cut its expatriate workforce to 50 from 125 workers. In March, Mopani Copper Mines said that its operations in Zambia were becoming unprofitable due to low copper prices. The company even proposed closing two of its mines until global copper prices increase to around $5,500 a ton, a proposal that was rejected by the Zambian government.
Source: Market Watch
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