About Mopani Copper mines
November 9,2018
By ELEANOR CHAMBESHI,MUFULIRA
Insights of Mopani
Mopani is one of the biggest companies in the mining industry. It is owned by stakeholders with GLENCO owning the biggest share followed by First Quantum then ZCCM holdings.
Mopani Copper mines took over from ZCCM in 1999 and operations started in 2000. The mine was about to be shut down due to costs which ZCCM could not manage alone. A lot of people were going to lose jobs as the mine was the only industry people of Mufulira and Nkana lived on.
The Government under (ZCCM) sort for a buyer of both mines with conditions that it kept employees in employment and that it remained a shareholder. Mopani emerged as the major shareholder followed by first quantum minerals and finally ZCCM with the least shares.
Mufulira mine is one of the deepest underground mines in the world with high copper grade. The deeper the mine goes, the costly it becomes to mine copper. Due to this situation, the mine spent more on cost than it realized hence found it difficult to operate the mine. This resulted in job cuts and some departments being put under care and maintenance in 2008.
Mopani sourced for funds to reopen other departments and recall retrenched employees under strict conditions of cost saving. In the year 2009, employees were recalled back and departments were re- opened for operations.
Despite smooth operations, accident rates went up as most employees were resisting change in management systems. Mopani copper mines introduced measures to reduce accidents such as safemining campaigns. Under the safemining campaign, it was stipulated that no employee should report for work under influence of alcohol as most accidents victims were found with alcohol in their blood stream during post-mortem. A training centre was opened where all employees entering the mine premises had to undergo safety trainings and pass the exams before being cleared to go and work in the mine. On alcohol, breathalysers were introduced at the gates to test for alcohol on everyone entering the mine. A standing instruction was made that if any person was found with alcohol in their system at the gate, they are fired and slapped with a 2 year period away from the mine premises. Another area of concern was stealing company property; to contain this, the company introduced detectors at the gates and cameras around the plant area.
Despite the above measures, people working in the mines have continued losing their jobs over alcohol intake and stealing company property.
In 2015, like many industries Mopani copper mines was hit by a global recession hit , the recession hit so hard that the company had no choice but to retrench a third quarter of (¾) of the workforce and shutting all operations at both mines as a means of survival measures. After the saga, GLENCO pumped in some money and slowly started opening up processing plants while recalling back retrenched employees.
The mine has stabilized and most of the workforce has been returned. Mopani has also taken over running of some social clubs and helping the community by building school halls for government schools, markets, clinics and recently fenced Mufulira civic center and judiciary premises.
To keep its workforce safe, Mopani has floated safety campaigns by making every employee participate in the safety meeting prior to starting every shift, producing bulletins and magazines. Anyone who misses the meeting cannot start work. Self-risk assessments have been introduced which gives employees the right not to work if it is not safe for them. Regular check-ups are done by management to ensure that employees are working safely. These measures have drastically reduced accidents within the mine.
By ELEANOR CHAMBESHI,MUFULIRA
Insights of Mopani
Mopani is one of the biggest companies in the mining industry. It is owned by stakeholders with GLENCO owning the biggest share followed by First Quantum then ZCCM holdings.
Mopani Copper mines took over from ZCCM in 1999 and operations started in 2000. The mine was about to be shut down due to costs which ZCCM could not manage alone. A lot of people were going to lose jobs as the mine was the only industry people of Mufulira and Nkana lived on.
The Government under (ZCCM) sort for a buyer of both mines with conditions that it kept employees in employment and that it remained a shareholder. Mopani emerged as the major shareholder followed by first quantum minerals and finally ZCCM with the least shares.
Mufulira mine is one of the deepest underground mines in the world with high copper grade. The deeper the mine goes, the costly it becomes to mine copper. Due to this situation, the mine spent more on cost than it realized hence found it difficult to operate the mine. This resulted in job cuts and some departments being put under care and maintenance in 2008.
Mopani sourced for funds to reopen other departments and recall retrenched employees under strict conditions of cost saving. In the year 2009, employees were recalled back and departments were re- opened for operations.
Despite smooth operations, accident rates went up as most employees were resisting change in management systems. Mopani copper mines introduced measures to reduce accidents such as safemining campaigns. Under the safemining campaign, it was stipulated that no employee should report for work under influence of alcohol as most accidents victims were found with alcohol in their blood stream during post-mortem. A training centre was opened where all employees entering the mine premises had to undergo safety trainings and pass the exams before being cleared to go and work in the mine. On alcohol, breathalysers were introduced at the gates to test for alcohol on everyone entering the mine. A standing instruction was made that if any person was found with alcohol in their system at the gate, they are fired and slapped with a 2 year period away from the mine premises. Another area of concern was stealing company property; to contain this, the company introduced detectors at the gates and cameras around the plant area.
Despite the above measures, people working in the mines have continued losing their jobs over alcohol intake and stealing company property.
In 2015, like many industries Mopani copper mines was hit by a global recession hit , the recession hit so hard that the company had no choice but to retrench a third quarter of (¾) of the workforce and shutting all operations at both mines as a means of survival measures. After the saga, GLENCO pumped in some money and slowly started opening up processing plants while recalling back retrenched employees.
The mine has stabilized and most of the workforce has been returned. Mopani has also taken over running of some social clubs and helping the community by building school halls for government schools, markets, clinics and recently fenced Mufulira civic center and judiciary premises.
To keep its workforce safe, Mopani has floated safety campaigns by making every employee participate in the safety meeting prior to starting every shift, producing bulletins and magazines. Anyone who misses the meeting cannot start work. Self-risk assessments have been introduced which gives employees the right not to work if it is not safe for them. Regular check-ups are done by management to ensure that employees are working safely. These measures have drastically reduced accidents within the mine.