Zambia aims to resolve mine royalty row this month, save jobs

Zambia's new President Edgar Lungu has appointed a team to end an impasse with mining firms over higher mineral royalties, his spokesman said on Thursday, in a bid to prevent looming job cuts and mine closures. Zambia hiked mineral royalties for open pit operations to 20% from 6% this year, prompting an outcry from the industry and threatening foreign investment in Africa's second biggest copper producer.