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COPPER PRICE HITS HIGHEST EVER: Copper continued its record-breaking run on the London Metal Exchange, reaching $8, 600 per tonne after pushing through $8, 000 for the first time ever, on 11 May. Used in construction and electronics, copper has gained 68 per cent this year, increasing more than fivefold from cyclical lows in 2001, on strong demand, tight supply and steady fund buying. Much of the demand for copper stems from China’s burgeoning economy. Meanwhile gold, which is also to be mined in Zambia, settled on 9 May at $701 per ounce. In 1980, it peaked at an all-time high of $850 an ounce. (Post 12 May, miningnews.net 10-13 May) EQUINOX INVESTS £30 MILLION IN ZAMBIA: Equinox Minerals has announced a $30 million private placement to ZCCM holdings, the government’s 86 %-owned subsidiary investment vehicle. Chief executive Craig Williams said that his company’s investment, which would be delivered by 30 June in two £15 million tranches, “underlines the renaissance occurring in mining in this open-market, mining-friendly country.” Capital costs for development of the 18-year project have been pegged at $550 million, which includes $96 million for a mining fleet. (Miningnews.net 21 April) ZAMBEZI RESOURCES GOING FOR GOLD: Zambezi Resources Limited has begun drilling at its Cheowa copper-gold project, 95 kilometres south-east of Lusaka. ZRL managing director Julian Ford told The Post. “This will confirm December’s trial helicopter survey over four kilometres of a known copper-gold mineralised strike length of 15 kilometres,” he said. Cheowa was explored extensively between 1920 and 1960, but only for copper. (The Post 5 May) FIRST QUANTUM ON A ROLL: This Canadian company is on its way to securing a take-over of Adastra Minerals, which holds 65 per cent of the largely undeveloped Kolwezi project in DR Congo. First Quantum produces around 40, 000 tonnes of copper from Lonshi mine in DRC which is processed at Bwana Mkubwa, and it is ramping up its operation at Kansanshi, near Solwezi in the north western province, to more than 145,000 tonnes a year. (Miningnews.net 19 April) BRITAIN HAILS INFLATION FIGHT: British High Commissioner Alistair Harrison has congratulated Zambia for attaining a single-figure inflation rate of 9.4 per cent. Mr. Harrison described this as “a major milestone in Zambia’s economy.” He told ZNBC it was time for Zambia to exploit opportunities available in non-traditional exports, instead of relying too heavily on copper. Meanwhile the Zambia Association of Manufacturers described single-digit inflation as “the best development in decades.” (ZNBC 2 May) PRESIDENT MWANAWASA BACK AT WORK: President Levy Mwanawasa returned from London on 22 April, and on 2 May resumed official duties, reassuring Zambians that he was recovering well from a minor stroke that required treatment in a London hospital. He gave proof of his recovery on 2 May, by swearing in a Cabinet minister, four deputy ministers, four permanent secretaries and a state house aide. (The Times, 2 May) PRAYERS FROM PRIME MINISTER BLAIR: Prime Minister
Tony Blair sent a message of good wishes to the president. “I
hope your stay in London went smoothly and that you will be able
to return to work, refreshed. I very much enjoyed our meeting
here, last September. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, as
you recuperate,” said Tony Blair in a message that was relayed
to the press by government minister Vernon Mwaanga. (Times, Mail,
25 April) ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS BOOSTS D0MESTIC AIR FLEET: As
tourism and business boom, Zambian Airways has leased a fifth
aircraft to meet the demand for its services. It is a new-generation
30-seater 120 Brasilia jet that CEO Don Macdonald said would complement
the 17-seater planes serving Livingstone, Ndola, Mfuwe and Harare.
The airline has a Boeing 737-200 that plies the Johannesburg route.
(15 May, Post) THE COPPER BONUS: 2P COINS COULD BE WORTH 3P EACH: As copper hit an all time high on the money markets, the scrap value of coins in UK readers’ pockets could have been worth 50 per cent more than their face value. Regrettably, however, this only applied to 2p and 1p coins minted before 1992, when each coin contained 97 per cent copper. After that, the Royal Mint switched to copper-plated steel. A coin’s intrinsic value rarely outstrips its face value. The £1 coin, for instance, has a scrap value of 5p. Meanwhile there are about 2, 551 million 2p coins worth 3p, out there, somewhere. (Daily Telegraph, 12 May) Exchange Rate, 16 May 2006: £1=ZMK 5, 638. 28 RIP W.L. Astle, who died in March, aged 73. Bill Astle was a biologist in the Luangwa Valley 1965-71, and became Chief Wildlife Research Officer at Chilanga during 1971-73. After working in Botswana and the Sudan for the FAO, he retired and, awarded the Levershulme Senior Fellowship, conducted research on Luangwa vegetation, made collections of Zambian flora and in 1999 published a book on wildlife management in Luangwa. Buried in Mobberley, Cheshire on 10 March, Bill Astle is survived by his wife Mercedes, his daughter Marilia and a grandson, Samuel. Marilia Jones may be reached at jonathanjones6@btopenworld.com RIP Sister Lucy O’Brien FRCOG of the
Community of the Holy Rosary, who died in Lusaka in April, aged
82, served as a doctor in Africa for several decades. Her work
as a gynaecologist and physician was widely recognised overseas
and she was honoured by the Zambian and Irish governments. An
obituary by her colleague and friend James Cairns FRCS, chairman
of the Zambia Society Trust, will be published in the summer edition
of Zambia Spotlight. Sister Lucy is buried at Chikuni, with many
other missionaries. The Chairman of the Zambia Society Trust
Correspondence and Membership
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