- Barrick Gold (ABX +2.8%) says it will resume operations at its Lumwana copper mine in Zambia, reversing an earlier decision to halt production after the government softened a royalty-based tax system.
- Pres. Lungu’s administration recently approved a 30% profit tax and 9% royalty due to start July 1 - higher than the 6% sales levy of last year but better than royalties of 8% for underground mines and 20% for open-pit operations the government began charging in January.
- Separately, Chile's environmental regulator says he will seek new sanctions against ABX's Pascua-Lama gold and silver project for non-compliance with certain obligations; the regulator already fined ABX $16M in 2013 for not complying with environmental requirements at Pascua-Lama, which was put on hold indefinitely later that year.