ZAMBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Harriet Mdala, Natasha Lungu, Samuel Muleya and Chanda Musonda-Chiluba, MAY & Company
It is highly disruptive to legal mineral production, as it has led to deforestation, soil degradation, and exten - sive land damage or ruin due to the evasion of environ - mental regulations. This affects other economic activi - ties dependent on natural resources. Furthermore, government treasuries and companies are deprived of what they would produce and earn because illicit miners are producing and supplying through the back door, thereby distorting the formal mining sector as illegal mining competes with the formal mining sector. Section 6 of the Minerals Act provides that the func - tions of the Commission are to prevent illegal mining and minerals smuggling in collaboration with other Government authorities. It also provides that the Commission is, in collaboration with other relevant authorities, responsible for carrying out inspections or investigations on safety issues related to explo - ration, mining, and mineral processing operations or activities. Furthermore, Section 10 of the Minerals Act provides that a person who explores for minerals or carries on mining operations, mineral processing operations or gold panning, except under the author - ity of a mining right, mineral processing licence or gold panning certificate granted under the Minerals Act, commits an offence. The Section is categorical on the criminal sanctions. Section 10 (3) of the Minerals Act states that a person who contravenes this provision commits an offence under the Minerals Act is liable, upon conviction in the case of an individual, a partnership or co-operative to a penalty not exceeding 700,000 penalty units (one penalty unity being ZMW0.40) or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, or to both; or in the case of a body corporate or unincorporate body, to a penalty not exceeding five million penalty units. Notably, the government has embarked on the forma - tion of mining co-operatives to encourage illegal min - ers to legally contribute to the nation’s development through the payment of taxes. Companies usually have recourse to court mecha - nisms when faced with illegal mining within their licence areas. Remedies sought are usually a dec - laration that certain operations and mining activities are illegal and an injunction to restrain illegal miners
from interfering with the holder’s rights in respect of a licence, as well as damages in respect of loss suffered by a holder of the licence. 2.9 Good and Bad Examples of Community Relations/Consultation Impacting Mining Projects A good example of environmental and community relations/consultations around mining projects in Zambia is the environmental requirements to start mining. The conducting of an EIS is required by the Act, as read together with the EIA Regulations, as is the conducting of an EIA. Furthermore, Section 10 of the Minerals Act prohibits mining without an EIA. Sec - tion 59 of the Minerals Act provides that environmental health will be considered when granting mining rights. Further, Section 59 of the Minerals Act provides that the Commission shall, in deciding whether or not to grant a mining right, ensure that any mining activity prevents any adverse socio-economic impact or harm to human health, in or on the land over which the right or licence is sought. A bad example of environmental and community rela - tions/consultations around mining projects in Zam - bia is the lack of a clear path towards sustainability regarding the relationship between mining companies and their host communities. As stated in 2.3 Impact of Community Relations on Mining Projects, the pol - icy framework in Zambia is vague regarding various important issues related to mining and its contribu - tion to the sustainable development of communities in which mining companies operate. For example, a 2021 case study of the Kabwe Lead-Zinc Mine in Zambia highlighted the effects of the mine’s closure on the community. It revealed that communities in Zambia often sink into a state of abject poverty once a mine closes, as all socio-economic opportunities dis - appear with the closure, and this has been replicated across various mining towns in Zambia. This shows that the economic, social and environmental decline of the community in this context is mainly attributable to the lack of a socio-economic closure plan at the time of mine closure.
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