Coal, limestone, aggregate, ouput up 99%—chamber
Aggregate, limestone and coal have continued to dominate the country’s mineral production, accounting for 99 percent of total output in 2023 as large mining projects are yet to begin, according to a report.
In its annual report covering mining activities in 2023, the Chamber of Mining and Energy indicated that the three minerals production amounted to 886 million metric tonnes (MT) out of the 888.8 million MT total output, representing 99.7 percent.
Reads the report in part: “The current mineral production is dominated by coal, limestone and aggregate for domestic use. Limestone is mainly used for cement production, coal for agro-processing and aggregate for construction industry.
“The entrance of gold production is noted due to formalisation of the artisanal and small-scale mining.”
The report noted a production boom in 2022 when production of the three minerals was recorded at 1.3 billion MT.
In an interview, geologist and mining expert Ignatius Kamwanje said limestone, aggregate, coal and gemstones are the ones being extracted by medium- scale miners for construction and domestic use as all big mining companies are still on exploration stage.
He said: “The country’s mining is still in its infant stages; hence, the three minerals and gemstones are the ones dominating activities mostly driven by demand from construction industry and domestic energy use, especially for coal.
“Until recently, gold mining was not formalised thus its impact on the sector’s official statistics started recently after the enactment of the artisanal law which has seen the Export Development Fund buying gold from small-scale miners.”
Kamwanje attributes the production increase of limestone, aggregate and coal to booming construction activities which ensured that most quarrying sites remained active.
In a separate interview, geologist Grain Malunga expects mining sector production and revenue to grow next year when Lotus Resources resumes mining activities at Kayelekera Uranium Mine in Karonga which was put on care and maintenance in 2014.
Ministry of Mining director of mines Samuel Sakhuta said the increase in output was due to the increase in infrastructure development by both government and the private sector.
In 2022, the country’s mining revenue was recorded at K19.3 billion kwacha, which was also supported by K9 billion revenue from gold, according the report.
