A glance into recent changes impacting miners in Zambia

Zambia's copper industry is poised to take center stage with respect to green energy as copper and manganese have now been designated by the European Commission (EC) as critical minerals in its proposed Critical Raw Materials Act. REFORMS Recent mineral royalty The Income Tax Act effective Jan. 1, 2023, introduced the following tax reforms: * Reduction of property transfer tax on transfer of mineral rights held by exploration companies from 10% to 7.5%; * deductibility of mineral royalty tax when determining the taxable income of mining companies; and * introduction of presumptive tax (4% to 10%) for artisanal and small-scale mining based on gross turnover. Parent company environmental liability claims The United Kingdom Supreme Court (UKSC) case of Vedanta Resources PLC and Konkola Copper Mines PLC v. Lungowe and Others, 2019 UKSC 20, has brought to the fore peculiar considerations about mining companies operating in Zambia and liability for parent companies in claims of negligence and breach of statutory duty against members of their group.