Zambia agrees copper mine sale

Copper accounts for 50% of Zambia's foreign currency receipts

The Zambian government has agreed the terms for the sale of Konkola Copper Mines and will hand over the assets to an Indian firm in December.

India's Sterlite Industries beat off competition from Japanese and South African firms after UK-listed mining giant Anglo American suddenly pulled out of the venture last year.

The Zambian authorities have been looking for a new buyer to invest in the business which employs more than 1,000 staff and accounts for about two-thirds of Zambia's metals production.

"I see Zambia getting back to its glorious days in copper mining very soon and the government will help the new investors in every way possible," mines minister Kaunda Lembalemba said.

Sterlite said it was keen to revamp operations at the mines but did not give any figures on how much it will invest in the project.

Anglo American quit Zambia, citing high production costs and low copper prices and saying the Konkola Deep Mining Project needed $1bn of initial development capital.

The Konkola mining firm made a loss of $159m (£98m) last year.