Twilight on the Zambian copperbelt?

On 25 of January 2002 Anglo American
Pic announced its intention to withdraw
from its mining operations on the Zambian
copperbelt. In recent years, KCM
(which is controlled by Anglo via its
majority holding in Zambia Copper Investment
Limited) has been responsible
for around two-thirds of Zambia's copper
production, half of its foreign exchange
earnings and currently directly
employs 11,000 workers. The threat of
closure, therefore, represents a potential
crisis not just for the Zambian copper
industry, but for the Zambian economy
as a whole. The aim of this article is to
provide a brief overview of the background
and emergence of this crisis, and
to outline some of the future prospects for
the industry.