President Rupiah Banda and Vedanta Resources Chairman Anil Agarwal officiated at the event attended by some 600 local and international guests. The President described the launch of mid-shaft loading at the KDMP as a major milestone in the history of Zambia’s copper mining industry which stands to gain massively from the project. “Commencement of the mid shaft loading at KDMP moves the Zambian mining industry closer to an exciting future for KCM and the country, inspiring fresh and renewed confidence in the future of copper mining especially on the Copperbelt,” said Mr Banda London-listed FTSE 100 Vedanta Resources Group has spent almost US$1.6 billion in capital investment on its various projects since investing in KCM five years ago. Apart from the KDMP, the other major projects are a new concentrator at Konkola and an ultra-modern 311 000 tonnes/annum capacity direct-to-blister smelter in Chingola, which was also officially opened on same day as the commissioning of mid-shaft loading. The project which was launched five years and was one of the major commitments given to the Zambian government by which also has interests in zinc, iron ore, aluminium and energy in Zambia, India and Australia. Mr Agarwal said the KDMP would improve the country’s production capacity which stood at around 750 000 tonnes during the 1970s, putting Zambia on a firm footing back to those glory days of high productivity. He pledged Vedanta’s commitment to contributing to Zambia’s development by undertaking major mining developments such as the KDMP. “Mid-shaft loading enables KCM to significantly increase its rock hoisting capacity, a major step in KCM’s bid to play an even bigger role in Zambian’s quest to produce one million tonnes of copper per year in the near future. In the quest to achieve this, all that KCM has earned and more has been invested in KCM’s US$ 2 billion investment todate,” he said. Development of the KDMP, the concentrator and the new smelter -one of only three such plants in the whole world – has introduced into Zambia some of the latest mining technology which Mr Agarwal said was necessary to transform Zambian into a developed country. KCM chief executive Kishore Kumar said the commissioning of the KDMP was a signpost to a future loaded with exciting opportunities for growth and thanked the many contractors (local and foreign), employees and the Government for their support during the development of the project. Indian High commissioner to Zambia Ashok Kumar said KCM represented the largest single investment in Zambia by an Indian company in the history of bilateral relations between the two countries. The entire project has been undertaken with the support of leading contractors. The Shaft sinking and construction activities are being handled by Grinaker-LTA Mining, a member of the Aveng Group of South Africa. Completion of Phase 1 is an important milestone towards conclusion of the KDMP which is designed to increase the ore production of the Konkola Mine during the next few years. This project will give KCM access to the ore reserves at a depth of 1,350m and is expected to significantly increase the life of the mine to beyond 2030. Phase 2 of the project will see the continued development of its new shaft complex to the design depth of 1,500m.