Glencore copper mine in Congo sends 350 contractors home
Glencore's Katanga Mining sent 350 workers to be repatriated
this week after the copper and cobalt miner delayed the commissioning of an
acid plant they were working on in Democratic Republic of Congo's Lualaba
province.
Katanga Mining's 75%-owned subsidiary Kamoto Copper Company
(KCC) had sent the 350 Indian contractors from the mine site near Kolwezi to
Lubumbashi, capital of Haut-Katanga province, to be repatriated, a source at
KCC told Reuters.
They are awaiting flights back to India.
Haut-Katanga governor Jacques Kyabula Katwe told Reuters:
"There are about 300 Indians in Lubumbashi, they came from Kolwezi and are
waiting for a plane to India".
He added he thought they came from KCC. "If it is not
possible for them to go back to India next week I will send them back to
Kolwezi," the governor added.
A Glencore spokesman declined comment.
Katanga Mining, which is 99.5% owned by Glencore, said on
March 30 the commissioning of its acid plant at KCC had been delayed as travel
restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic made it impossible to bring
commissioning experts to the site.
It said the acid plant was expected to be commissioned in
the second half of 2020 rather than the first half.
KCC had on March 23 repatriated 26 foreign workers in
response to the Covid-19 outbreak.
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