Copper mining firm in Zambia to lay off 4,700 workers

Glencore’s Zambian copper mining unit, Mopani Copper Mines, said Tuesday it would lay off nearly 5,000 workers due to persistent electricity supply disruptions.

The company said in a statement in Lusaka that it would scale down operations in several areas.

“Although we shall work on optimising the use of limited power that we are receiving, we expect that we shall effectively have to close several areas and our scaled back operations may affect a total of 4,700 direct employees,” the company said.