Luanshya New Mine hailed as 'milestone event' for Zambia
In September last year, Hichilema visited the headquarters of CNMC in Beijing, and held talks with its main leaders. They reached a consensus to cooperate and revitalize the Shaft 28, also known as the Luanshya New Mine project.
At the forum, the president, together with a series of senior government officials and corporate leaders, initiated the dewatering of the Shaft 28.
CNMC has lived up to its word by "continuously and efficiently proceeding the project", said Hichilema, who visited CLM on April 11 and witnessed the assembly of water pumps specifically developed for the Luanshya New Mine.
In 2022, Zambia formulated its eighth National Development Plan and the Vision 2030 development strategy, aimed at increasing the country's copper production capacity to 3 million metric tons per year. The restart of the Luanshya New Mine project is crucial to achieving that goal.
As the oldest operation in Zambia's mining history, the Shaft 28 maintained continuous production from 1931 to 2001. In the 1960s-70s, its annual production exceeded 100,000 tons, making it the largest copper mine in the country. However, production was halted in January 2001 due to flooding caused by a once-in-a-50-year storm.
In 2023, CNMC, in collaboration with top domestic and international research institutions, achieved significant technological breakthroughs in flood control after a year of sci-tech research. The team verified the layout of Luanshya New Mine's mining system, its total water volume, and the vertical distribution of water up to 1,200 meters, then formulated a dewatering plan based on the results.
According to the plan, the dewatering work will be finished in 18 to 21 months, with a total volume exceeding 130 million cubic meters. The first two water pumps were officially put into use on May 26 this year. Currently, six water pumps are in operation, pumping out 240,000 cubic meters per day. In the coming months, seven more water pumps will be installed, and the drainage capacity of the 13 pumps will reach up to 450,000 cu m per day.
