Emerald production improves at Kagem
The hard work and dedication of employees at the Kagem emerald mine in Lufwanyama have helped the company meet production targets and resulted in a straight 22 months’ of bonuses being paid to all staff. After a difficult 2017 during which production dropped dramatically, 2018 and 2019 have seen improvement for the mine, which is operated by London-based Gemfields in partnership with the government’s Industrial development Corporation (IDC).
“Owing to the outstanding efforts of all our employees, we have paid out bonuses every month for the last 22 months,” said Kagem Mine General Manager Prahalad Kumar Singh. “Thanks to our dedicated and loyal staff we have been able to achieve great productivity and maintain our quality levels,” he added. Geologist Nicholas Simukoko said: “The bonuses are great to receive and are very motivating for us to keep working hard. I hope we continue to meet our production targets and keep receiving bonuses.”
Production from Kagem’s Chama pit has seen the proportion of premium quality emeralds increase from 0.3% to 0.4% of the total production. However, the pit is now 140m deep, stretches over 1.8 km long and 600m wide, meaning it becomes increasingly difficult to achieve efficiencies as ore and waste have to be moved further, warned Mr Singh.
Kagem sustainability are, 1: Kagem is committed to ensuring that the community continues to benefit positively from its operations through various sustainability programmes focused on alleviating poverty and aligned with government policies, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Vision 2030.
2: The mine has spent more than US$2 million on community projects, including: i: Rehabilitation of the 18.7km road connecting Chief Nkana and Chief Lumpuma’s chiefdoms from Kandole to Kafwaya village in Lufwanyama district, ii: Construction of the Nkana Health Centre, iii: Construction and equipping of a new Chapula Secondary School.
iv: Construction of new buildings at Chapula Primary School, Building of teachers’ accommodation at Kapila Community School, v: Support for the ‘Blessings’ and ‘Green Farm’ projects, vi: Provision of a ZESCO powerline, vii: Improvements to Chief Nkana and Chief Lumpuma’s palaces.
3: Kagem’s US$345,000 industry training initiative is sponsoring 12 students from the geological and mining engineering departments at the School of Mines at the University of Zambia (UNZA) and Copperbelt University (CBU) over a period of eight years.
4: Since acquiring 75 percent of Kagem in 2008, Gemfields has been meticulous in declaring revenue, which has reached approximately US$567 million, from the sale of emeralds at auctions both locally and internationally, which are overseen by representatives from the Ministry of Mines and Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA). Proceeds from the auctions are repatriated to Zambia, generating valuable foreign exchange for the nation.
5: Kagem has contributed approximately US$107 million to the Zambian government in cumulative corporation taxes, mineral royalties and dividends. This means that almost 20 percent of Kagem’s revenues have flowed to the Zambian government in the last decade. Kagem currently employs more than 1000 staff!
