Chambishi Copper Smelter Limited is a company located within the Chambishi Multi-Facility Economic Zone (MFEZ) and is one of Zambia’s largest copper concentrate processing companies, with a capacity design to produce 250,000 tons of copper blister per year.
This is from the copper concentrates that the company purchases from both local and foreign entities. It also produces 670,000 tons of sulphuric acid as a by-product for local and export markets.
Chambishi Copper Smelter Company Limited is the first large-scaled modern pyro metallurgical copper smelting project established overseas by China. CCS is owned by two shareholders. China Non Ferrous Metal Mining(Group) Co. Ltd. (CNMC) with 60% shares and Yunnan Copper (Group) Co. Ltd. (YCC) with 40% shares.
CCS was successfully registered in Zambia on 19th July, 2006. On February 4th, 2007, the CCS plan was unveiled by the Former President of People’s Republic of China Mr. Hu Jintao and The Late Zambian President Dr. Levy Mwanawasa SC. in Lusaka. CCS adopted “Top-submerged Lance Smelting Technology-Electric furnace-Peirce Smith (P-S) converter-Anode Casting process” to produce copper blister/anode and “Double-contact, Double-absorption” to produce sulphuric acid. The first phase of the project started in 2006 which was completed in 3 years and production commenced in 2009.
On, 19th October 2009, following the successful trial operations that had been undertaken, CCS was commissioned by former president of the Republic of Zambia, Rupiah Bwezani Banda. CCS currently has a local labour force of over 1600 employees.