By JUDITH NAMUTOWE and CHATULA KANGALI –

KAGEM Mining has paid a US$14 million dividend to its shareholders, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).
The IDC owns 25 per cent of the shares in the company on behalf of the Zambian Government while Gemfields Plc owns the remaining 75 per cent.
The dividend for the year ended June 30, 2015 was the third one paid to shareholders by the mining company and brings to $30 million the total dividends declared in the last three years.
This is contained in a statement made available to the Times of Zambia yesterday.
Company chief executive officer Ian Harebottle said the dividends were in addition to the more than $43.7 million in corporate taxes and mineral royalties that had been generated by the company in the last three years.
He said the last three years of dividends, the first in the Kagem’s history, had been facilitated by the turnaround strategy initiated at Kagem, in conjunction with the government, since 2008 when the London-listed Gemfields acquired a 75-per cent beneficial interest in the company.
“Kagem is now profitable and paying dividends. That is good news for the Government and its people. This demonstrates what can be done when national resources and world-class private sector expertise join forces to create a flagship global business.
“Our three consecutive years of dividends, supported by the considerable increase in jobs and skills that have been created at the mine, show that the benefits of this collaboration can be shared by all parties, and in an equitable manner,” Mr Harebotle said.
Gemfields recently reported that Kagem recorded a 49 per cent year-on-year increase in the volume of gemstones produced.
The mine produced 30.1 million carats of emeralds and beryl in its 2015 financial year, compared with the 20.2 million carats produced in the 2014 financial year.
The figures were reported in Gemfields’ final audited results, which showed a seven per cent increase in revenue for the group to $171.4 million and profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $64.4 million compared with the $59.3 million achieved in the 2014 financial year.