KCM CEO Retires

The CEO of Konkola Copper Mines, Christopher, Sheppard has announced he is retiring and will be leaving the company on Friday. Mr Shepherd has been CEO of KCM since March 2019, overseeing the company’s liquidation and restructuring into two operating units in February 2021.

He is being replaced by Enock Mponda, who will serve as acting CEO for KCM, as well as CEO of the subsidiary KCM SmelterCo. Moses Chilambe, meanwhile, will take over as CEO of Konkola Mineral Resources Ltd. 

Sheppard is retiring after 37 years in the mining sector, following executive roles at some of the largest corporations in southern Africa, including Anglo American, Lomin Platinum and Murray Roberts Cementation. He also previously served as Chief Operating Officer for AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. 

KCM’s provisional liquidator, Milingo Lungu, said Mr Sheppard would be remembered for guiding KCM through some incredibly challenging times, culminating in the liquidation which began in May 2019.

“Chris was a thoughtful and forthright CEO who inspired employees and business partners and their workers to steer KCM in the right direction under difficult circumstances,” Lungu said.

The future of KCM is currently uncertain. In July an arbitral tribunal in London ruled that the liquidation process was unlawful because the government’s investment arm, KCCM-IH, was in breach of its agreement with the mine’s private owners Vedanta Resources. It ordered the government to dismiss the liquidator immediately. 

Then, in September, Mr Lungu was arrested by the Drug Enforcement Commission and charged with embezzling more than $2 million during his time as liquidator. He is currently awaiting trial. 

Since 2019, Vedanta has been trying to regain possession of the mine, promising investment of up to $1.5 billion if their ownership was restored. Last week, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane indicated that large amounts of capital would be needed to restore operations at KCM, hinting at a potential return for private sector investors.

The finance minister has in the past been deeply critical of the effective nationalisation of KCM, telling a stakeholder meeting in October, “we must never bring politics in[to] the private sector.”