Mine expert urges government to offload 51% Kasenseli shares

A mine expert has said the Zambian  government should consider offloading 51 percent shares on the local stock market.

George Jere said the full operation of the largest gold  mine in the country would be a catalyst to the country’s stability.

“The mine has been idle for too long ,a life line for that mine is needed so that the country starts producing gold ,” Mr Jere said.

He said in an interview in Kitwe  on Thursday that  it was encouraging to see that the Government was on top of things regarding Kasenseli Gold Mine  going by President Hakainde Hichilema’s pronouncements.

Also read:https://www.zambiamonitor.com/zambias-mining-industry-on-growth-path-president

Jere  who is  former  Association  of  Mine Suppliers  and Contractors (AMSC) general secretary said  a local beneficial model was needed as the Government works  on the ownership and investment.

He suggested that 51 percent should be offloaded on the Lusaka Securities Exchange (LuSE) so that local investors buy shares to raise capital to run the mine operations as the Government withheld 49 percent shares.

Jere said as the global economy looked unstable ,gold would continue being the preferable store of value mechanism because stocks and bonds underperform  during economic turbulence.

He said   raising capital for a gold mine was easier than a copper project because of the short turnaround compared to copper whose turnaround  period was much longer.

“Most  of the Zambian investors  will buy shares from gold mining investment because the maturity is short compared to  copper whose return on investment was long term ,” Jere said.