Modern Mining April 2015

COUNTRY FOCUS – ZAMBIA

busy. This division of the company offers a full range of services including the preparation of baseline studies and ESIAs, the design and establishment of environmental monitoring systems, environmental management, tailings design, monitoring and management and gov- ernment reporting and compliance. It has in the past partnered with Golder Associates in South Africa, with which it has an informal alliance. Says Mukonka: “Given that much of the work of AMC Environmental Services revolves around statutory requirements in the field of health, safety and the environment on the mines, our environmental side has held up very well in the face of the global mining recession.” As regards AMC Mining Services, Mukonka says it has enjoyed a healthy workload over the past several years but acknowledges that the dip in the copper price is now starting to be felt on the Copperbelt. “Certainly we’re expect- ing more challenging business conditions as we move forward. We have several contracts in place both in Zambia and the DRC but replenishing the pipeline of projects is going to become increasingly difficult until commodity prices recover,” he concludes. 

discoveries anywhere in the world. Mukonka says that with the global dip in exploration spending, work for AMC Exploration Services has become more diffi- cult to secure but points out that it has several active assignments in Zambia and the DRC, one being the Lumwana West project for Argonaut Resources. “Exploration is obviously a very cyclical business and we’re confident that it will turn up again in due course,” he says. He adds that AMC can claim to be one of the leading geological consultancies when it comes to the Central African Copperbelt, with an unrivalled knowledge base that has been built up over many years and over a multitude of projects. While AMC does not involve itself in pro- cess plant design, it can consult on metallurgy, its lead expert in this field being Dr Chris John, who is currently based in South Africa. He has over 30 years’ experience in minerals pro- cessing on the Copperbelt. A graduate of the University of Birmingham (with a PhD from the University of Newcastle), he enjoyed a long career with ZCCM before entering the consult- ing field, most recently with AMC. On the environmental side, AMC remains

“Certainly we’re expecting more challenging business conditions as we move forward.”

Edwin Mukonka

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April 2015  MODERN MINING  45