Black Mountain scavengers irk Yaluma

Mon, 13 Mar 2017 08:58:04 +0000

By ROGERS KALERO

MINES and Mineral Development Minister  Christoper Yaluma has ordered that all mining equipment be removed from the Nkana Slug dump by today until his ministry concludes negotiations with the rightful owner on how mining will be done alongside the youths who will have a 10 percent stake in it

Speaking when he visited the Nkana Slug Dump popularly known as the ‘Black Mountain’ Mr Yaluma said he was disappointed with the manner in which the copper dump slug had been looted.

Mr Yaluma was shocked to find that a big chunk of the copper slug has allegedly been removed and dumped at another site where a new black mountain was coming up.

“I don’t want to see any piece of equipment belonging to anyone who does not own this slug dump or Black Mountain as you call it at this site. It is shocking and disappointing with the manner in which the copper dump slug has been looted,

“This is looting and perpetrators must be brought to book. A lot has been excavated from here. This is totally unlawful behaviour and should not go unpunished,” Mr Yaluma said.

Mr Yaluma said those mining at the Black Mountain were violating the law and should be punished because no one was supposed to be at the slug dump before the ownership issue was harmonized and a mining license issued to the owner.

He said Government promised to create employment for youths using the Black Mountain, but it was sad that while it had convinced the youths to stop going there some ‘scavengers’ had taken advantage of the situation and had depleted the resource meant to empower youths.

He said the courts have ruled that Nkana Alloy are the owners of Black Mountain and that his ministry wanted to negotiate with owners to see how best the 10 percent owned by ZCCM-Investment Holdings could be apportioned among the youths to ensure things were done systematically.