By KENNEDY MUPESENI –
KONKOLA Copper  Mines (KCM) board chairperson Tom Albanese has said  the company will continue to produce copper in a competitive and safe way because its stakeholders rely on the mine to run the business properly.
Mr Albanese echoed the recent government advice for the mines to ensure total safety by declaring that KCM top priority was safety for all employees and contractors even before enhancing production.
He was speaking during the introduction of three new directors on the KCM Board to employees in Chingola.
“The day that we stop thinking of safety is the day that someone is going to get hurt. Safety is like pushing water up the hill. The moment you stop, it flows right back at you. Stay safe, and the whole business will stay safe,” Mr Albanese said in a statement by public relations and communications manager Shapi Shachinda yesterday.
Mr Albanese implored all KCM employees to continue prioritising safety as they do their work, saying he was pleased with levels of awareness among the workforce.
“I have seen a much deeper engraved and embedded perspective of safety by everyone we visited, not just the mottos, and the slogans, but also in terms of safety awareness and risk assessment” Mr Albanese said, adding that KCM was committed to its vision for Zambia for the next 50 years and beyond.
He said KCM has enough resources, infrastructure and most importantly, capabilities among the employees to enable it achieve the company’s 50-year vision for mining in Zambia.
“If you do what you know you need to do, which is stay safe, produce copper, the most competitive that you can anywhere on the Copperbelt, you can attract the investment, we can get deeper in the ore, get more dewatering done, get more research done, we can find new metallurgical approaches. That’s what will help us achieve the 50 year vision.”
KCM chief executive officer Steven Din said 2016 and 2017 were very hard years but through everyone’s contribution the company saw its way through the lowest copper price in many years.
“I actually feel that the way we have come through the last couple of years has made us much stronger as a business. We have turned the corner.
“However the journey ahead is still an uphill. So you’ve got to keep your resolve and make sure we continue to work together as we have been because 2018 is going to be a big year for us,” Mr Din told the employees.