Konkola Copper Mines seeks court intervention to reclaim assets transferred to subsidiaries

Konkola Copper Mines Plc (KCM), currently under provisional liquidation, has taken legal action in the Lusaka High Court to reclaim properties and environmental licenses transferred to its subsidiaries, KCM SmelterCo Limited and Konkola Mineral Resources Limited.

The company alleged that these transfers, involving 78 properties and 15 environmental licenses, were unlawfully executed under the directives of former Provisional Liquidator (PL) Milingo Lungu in 2020.

Documents filed on Friday revealed that KCM claimed the transfers were part of a purported company reorganization, yet the former PL did not obtain required court approval as stipulated by the Corporate Insolvency Act of 2017.

Despite this, the transfers were registered without the necessary court leave.

KCM argued that these transfers were, therefore, illegal and void, depriving the company of its rightful ownership and use of these assets while benefiting the defendants.

In May 2024, the current Provisional Liquidator, Celine Nair, proposed a creditors’ scheme of arrangement aimed at transitioning KCM out of provisional liquidation and into a viable ongoing concern.

This scheme, which included regularisation of the disputed transfers, was approved by creditors and sanctioned by the High Court on June 28.

Emphasizing the critical need for these environmental licenses to conduct mining operations post-liquidation, KCM has sought rectification of the transfers from the Ministry of Lands and the Zambia Environmental Management Authority, to no avail.

Consequently, KCM claims significant financial loss and damage.

The company had petitioned the High Court to nullify the transfers, reaffirm its ownership of the properties, cancel the titles issued to defendants, rectify the lands register to reflect KCM as the rightful owner, and transfer the environmental licenses back to its name.

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