CHINGOLA, 25 July 2017 – Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) regrets to inform the nation that unknown criminals have cut high voltage electricity cables at the Nchanga underground mine (NUG) in Chingola, causing disruption to operations at the mine.

The incident occurred between midnight and 01:00am on Tuesday, 25th July 2017, when employees on the night shift experienced a sudden power outage at the Ventilation shaft. A check later revealed that at least 9 high voltage copper cables at the 11Kv sub station had been cut off and stolen. This caused the Ventilation shaft, which sucks air from the underground, to stop functioning.

As a result of this incident, KCM has been forced to stop NUG operations to ensure the safety of the 991 work-force at this particular operation. This is the second such incident in a fortnight, following the theft of 200 metres of high voltage cabling, which was cut and stolen at the tailings leach plant.

An internal investigation is underway to aid separate investigations by the police.