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Luiri Gold Limited is pleased to announce that it has finalized its resource updates resulting from the 9,244m diamond drilling programme recently completed at the Luiri Hills Project (Dunrobin and Matala deposits) in Zambia. The new mineral resource estimates show a significant increase in gold ounces with the total inferred mineral resource increasing from 378,000 ounces to 656,000 ounces (+74%) and the total indicated mineral resource increasing from 117,000 ounces to 144,000 ounces (+23%). These mineral resource ounces are contained in 7.1 million tonnes at 2.9 Au g/t for the inferred category and 2.2 million tonnes at 2.1 Au g/t for the indicated category. "The results of the new resource estimates have again confirmed that the Luiri Hill Project has the potential to be a substantial gold project," commented Mike Sperinck, President and CEO of Luiri Gold. "Furthermore, the current resources at the project are from only the first two targets that we have drilled. We have just completed another plus 9,000m exploratory RC drilling programme on six other targets close to the Matala and Dunrobin deposits and are currently waiting on the assay results."

Dan Haglund argues strongly against the government taking unilateral action through the new mining tax regime at the Mine Watch blog . Excerpt: To sum up, I believe government is doing the right thing reforming the fiscal framework, but it is also adopting a strategy which appears, on the face of it, somewhat risky. Finding a win-win situation which improves (significantly) the tax receipts from the mining sector whilst signaling that it does incorporate concerns of private investment. An amicable solution to all of this would also engender more open state-firm relationships, on the back of which greater long-term transparency of the mining sector can be sought, for instance through the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

The Chinese managers of Zambia's Chambishi Copper Smelter (CCS) agreed on Thursday to reinstate 500 workers who had been sacked, their union said. "They have assured us that everybody will get back to work and we hope normal operations will resume on Monday," National Union of Mining and Allied Workers (Numaw) general secretary Albert Mando told [...]

Reuters reports that Zambia & China are now on verge of signing a deal that would see fifty Chinese companies invest over $800 million in the Chambishi tax free economic zone within the next five years. According to Felix Mutati (Commerce Minister), in addition to removing tax restrictions, the Zambian government would also "build roads and...

Metorex, which depends heavily on copper earnings, continues to be sold down by investors while dozens of other listed copper stocks around the world continue a dazzling upwards rip. On January 24 Metorex took the unusual step of publishing an announcement dealing specifically with the activity in, and decline of, the stock's share price. Investors were told that "the fundamentals of the Metorex Group have never been as positive or robust as they are at present, which has not been borne out in the recent decline in the share price". Over the past three weeks the Metorex stock price has been hammered once again, falling by more than any of 38 selected copper stocks listed around the world. Across the border, the Zambian government remains intent on extracting more taxes from its mainly copper mining sector, also creating a perception that investments in the country have been sold off. Equinox, with interests exclusively in Zambian copper (with a significant potential uranium byproduct), has posted a price gain of 24% in the past three weeks. First Quantum, which operates in both Zambia and the DRC, has posted a 22% increase in its stock price over the past three weeks.

Zambia and foreign owners of its copper mines agreed a 35 percent power tariff increase effective January this year, and authorities have warned of possible power cuts to the mines due to a power generator fault. "All the mines have accepted the proposal to raise tariffs by 35 percent and we are just waiting for ZESCO Ltd to sign the agreement. The increase will be with effect from January 1 this year," Copperbelt Energy Company (CEC) chairman Hanson Sindowe told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. CEC buys power from state power utility ZESCO and distributes it to the mines.

Zambia is on track to complete the construction of a dedicated power supply line to its first nickel mine where production of 8,600 tonnes of nickel will commence mid-year, an industry official said. Sixtus Mulenga, general manager of Albidon Zambia Ltd., a unit of Australia's Albidon Ltd., said the building of a power line to supply electricity only to the Minali nickel mine was progressing well. "We have a dedicated power line from Kafue Gorge to make sure that we have power all the time. Construction of the power line is progressing very well and we should be commissioning production at the mine mid this year," Mulenga told Reuters.