Mineral export controls and monitoring in Zambia

The legal rule for mineral exports

The Minerals Regulation Commission Act, 2024 repeals and replaces the Mines and Minerals Development Act, 2015 and sets up the Minerals Regulation Commission ^1,8.

Section 6 gives the Commission functions to regulate and monitor mineral marketing, to provide laboratory services for mineral analysis and valuation, and to monitor the trading in, and export of, minerals ¹.

Section 32 says a person shall not import or export a mineral, gemstone, ore or mineral product without a permit issued by the Commission. Applicants apply in the prescribed form and pay a prescribed fee ¹.

ZambiaLII lists the Minerals Regulation Commission Act, 2024 (Commencement) Order, 2025, Statutory Instrument 42 of 2025, with a commenced date of 3 June 2025 ².

What an exporter must hold

Section 33 of the Act lists the conditions for an export permit ¹.

• An analysis and valuation certificate from the Commission ¹
• A mineral royalty clearance certificate from the ZRA Commissioner-General ¹
• Security clearance from the Zambia Police Service ¹
• Production returns for a mining or processing licence holder, or trade returns for a trading permit holder ¹
• The mining right or processing licence that is the source of the material ¹

Sampling, valuation and trading

Section 34 says the Commission shall analyse a mineral, gemstone, ore or mineral product and issue analysis and valuation certificates. These cover export applications, minerals in storage or transit and minerals at mines. The certificates are admissible as evidence for mineral royalty and other payments ¹.

Section 30 says a person other than a mining or processing licence holder shall not trade in minerals without a mineral trading permit. The penalty is a fine of up to 500,000 penalty units, up to five years in prison, or both. Section 31 says a trading permit lasts three years ¹.

Electronic monitoring

The International Energy Agency policy database, last updated 4 February 2026, describes MOSES as Zambia's digital traceability platform for mineral production and exports. It says ZRA developed MOSES in 2016 with UNCTAD. It covers copper, gold, emeralds, amethyst, tin and manganese, and lists the policy as in force ³.

The IEA says exports are registered and approved through MOSES, with production data checked against export permits and customs declarations. Limestone and gypsum are handled manually ³.

An undated UNCTAD ASYCUDA document says 755,000 metric tons of copper exported from Zambia in 2018 were tracked and monitored by the ASYCUDAWorld system. It names ZRA, the Zambia Bureau of Standards, the Central Statistical Office, the Road Development Agency, the Road Transport and Safety Agency and the Patents and Companies Registration Authority in the framework ⁴.

A July 2016 Lusaka Times report, republished by ZCCM-IH, said the Ministry of Mines online export permit module went live on 1 June 2016 under a project funded by the European Union with 4.7 million euros ⁵.

Export duty on copper concentrates

Reuters reported on 3 June 2026, citing a government notice, that Zambia extended the suspension of a 10 percent duty on copper concentrate exports to 30 September. The suspension was first used in August 2025 and covers 271,742 tons ⁶.

Skillings Mining Review reported on 28 July 2026 that Statutory Instrument No. 43 of 2026 cut the export duty to zero on tariff headings 2603.00.21, 2603.00.22, 2603.00.23 and 2603.00.29 from 1 June to 30 September 2026. It reported that exempt shipments must go through Industrial Resources Limited, a subsidiary of the Industrial Development Corporation ⁷. The instrument itself could not be opened for this page.