Govt to recapitalise ZCCM-IH

President Michael Sata says government will recapitalize the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH).

In his face book message posting today, Mr Sata said   ZCCM-IH will be consolidated with K275 million in order to add value to the country’s various Gemstones.

The President mentioned that the government is determined to extract huge benefits from the abundant resources the country has for the people of Zambia.

Mr Sata noted that proper monitoring of the selling and auctioning of Gemstones will create employment, enhance revenue and value addition for the country.

President Sata said the country has the ability to hold and auction Gemstones locally following the successful outcome of the three auctions conducted by Kagem Mines Plc last year.

On the demand by government, Kagem Mines Plc conducted three auctions; the first auction was held in April 2013 and was of low grade emeralds.

The emeralds weighed 6.3 million carats and were sold at a value of US$15.2 million.

The second auction was held from 15-19 July 2013 and 583,448 carats of high grade emeralds valued at US$31.5 million were sold.

The third auction was held from 11-15 November 2013 and a total of US$16.4 million was realized from the low grade auction.

The President disclosed that the second auction had the highest revenue achieved to date and the best in terms of value per carat sold.

He further added that all the 583,448 carats placed on offer were sold and the average per carat price of US$54 set a new record.