ZAMBIA’S copper output has continued to slide as crises at two Indian-owned Binani Group mines exacerbated production lapses at the largely state-run Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM), analysts said on Monday. Provisional figures released Monday said Zambia’s total copper output dropped 13% in September to 21763 tons from 25155 tons in August, largely as a result of problems at the Binani-owned Roan Antelope Mining Corporation (Ramcoz). President Frederick Chiluba’s government is hard-pressed to complete the privatisation of its ailing mines, whose output has dropped from a peak of around 700000 tons in 1969 to just over 300000 tons. Efforts by the government to privatise the premier Nkana and Nchanga mines, which account for around 65% of total ZCCM output, have so far failed to secure a buyer.
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