FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WITH PICTURE
OCTOBER 11, 2021
EDUCATION MINISTER ELATED OVER NEW KISASA CLASSROOM BLOCKS
KALUMBILA,ZAMBIA – Kalumbila Minerals Limited (KML) has handed over three 1X3 classroom blocks to the Ministry of Education in Kisasa area. The mine handed over one 1X3 at Mutuba Community School and two 1X3 classroom blocks at Kisasa Day Secondary School.
Speaking during the handover, Minister of Education Douglas Syakalima thanked Kalumbila Minerals for the support rendered to his ministry which include infrastructure support, provision of learning and teaching materials, scholarship programs, capacity building and technical support. The Minister said being a new district, Kalumbila district needs such collaborations in order for it to respond to its unique challenges.
“This unique collaboration clearly demonstrates that through private public partnerships, we can attain efficiency, effectiveness and desired quality in the provision of education. The Government attaches great importance to development and clearly understands that meaningful development starts with education which is the best equalizer of the poor, rural, disadvantaged and vulnerable”, said Mr. Syakalima.
KML Assistant General Manager Junior Keyser said the mine is working with the Ministry of Education to enhance the quality of education through system enhancement support and provision of scholarships.
“Without education, it means other sectors of the economy get compromised. It also means failure to understanding governance principles and failure to keep up with civilization changes. Lack of education also hampers the optimization of available livelihood opportunities that may be presented through our corporate social responsibility”, Mr. Keyser.
Mr. Keyser said through corporate-community social responsibility and with collaboration, Mutuba Community School block and two others at Kisasa Day Secondary School have been built at a cost of K1, 740,000.
KML has appealed to the community to continue supporting such initiatives and work hand-in-hand with Kalumbila Minerals Limited and Government to support future projects.
Since inception, the mine has constructed 3 new schools, 19 teacher houses and 7 by 3 classroom blocks. Four schools have been supported with renovations, 6600 text books have been distributed, 5500 school desks have been produced by KML’s sawmill while 2,104 more desks have been produced in collaboration with the local authority and Ministry of Education. Additionally, 350 iPads have been distributed to support online education during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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About First Quantum Minerals Ltd
First Quantum Minerals Ltd is a global metals and mining company producing mainly copper, gold and zinc. The company’s assets are in Zambia, Spain, Mauritania, Australia, Finland, Turkey, Panama, Argentina and Peru.
In 2020, First Quantum globally produced 779,000 tonnes of copper, 265,000 ounces of gold and 13,000 tonnes of nickel.
In Zambia it operates the Kansanshi mine – the largest copper mine in Africa by production – and smelter and the Sentinel mine in Kalumbila.
The company is listed on the Lusaka and Toronto stock exchanges.
http://www.first-quantum.com/
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