UPDATE 2-Pay strike hits Zambia's Konkola copper mine

LUSAKA, Nov 11 (Reuters) - A strike over wages by workers at Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources, halted most units at the facility in Zambia on Wednesday, the company said. KCM spokesman Rahur Kharkar said a shift of miners involved in the strike at the company's Nchanga Integrated Business Unit had halted operations of the tailings leach plant, Nchanga underground mine and the concentrator. Copperbelt province permanent secretary Villie Lombanya had earlier told Reuters that only the automated smelter was operating at the mine in Chingola, 380 km (236 miles) north of Lusaka. "The employees were joined by non-mining fraternity outside the plant area ... 16 houses and three cars belonging to expatriate families were damaged," Kharkar said in a statement. Kharkar said the workers had also burned two vehicles and demolished shelters for employees of a Chinese contractor at KCM, Zambia's largest copper producer. A government official said the workers, who were demanding higher pay, had also looted shops within the mine. Kharkar said the KCM management and the Mine Workers Union of Zambia (MUZ) held emergency talks to find ways to end the strike. MUZ general secretary Oswell Munyenyembe said police had detained 30 people they said were all miners after the riots. "The union cannot support any form of violence and we are verifying the police report that all those arrested are miners," Munyenyembe told Reuters by telephone from Johannesburg. "If they (miners) don't go back to work, management will not negotiate with us," Munyenyembe said. Output losses at KCM, which plans to produce 305,000 tonnes of copper in 2009, will only be known after the company assesses lost production hours, officials said. In 2008, workers at KCM, which has several projects aimed at raising output, including the development of the Konkola Deep Mine Project (KDMP) which it hopes to bring on stream by 2010, carried out similar action during wage negotiations between the unions and management. KCM, which operates the Konkola copper mine, the satellite Fitwaola mine and the Nampundwe pyrite mine, has also started reclaiming refractory ores at the Nchanga open pit to produce more copper. (Writing by Shapi Shacinda; editing by Anthony Barker) (For more Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://af.reuters.com) Keywords: ZAMBIA KONKOLA/ ([e-mail]; [phone]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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