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Zambia’s mining regulatory framework changed substantially between 2024 and 2026. A company entering mining today cannot rely on an old checklist built around the Mines and Minerals Development Act of 2015. That Act was repealed when the Minerals Regulation Commission Act No. 14 of 2024 came into force on 13 June 2025.
For businesses that want to supply mines rather than operate them, the biggest commercial change is Statutory Instrument No. 68 of 2025. Effective from 1 January 2026, Zambia’s new mining local-content regime reserves significant procurement opportunities for qualifying Zambian companies.
The practical message is simple: 2026 has changed both how companies enter mining and how companies sell to mines in Zambia.
Key Takeaways
- The Minerals Regulation Commission Act No. 14 of 2024 is now the central law governing mining rights, licensing and regulation in Zambia, replacing the Mines and Minerals Development Act of 2015.
- Statutory Instrument No. 68 of 2025 introduced mandatory local procurement requirements from 1 January 2026, starting with a 20% threshold for qualifying local suppliers of core mining goods and services.
- Certain non-core goods and services are exclusively reserved for qualifying local companies, creating opportunities beyond traditional mining equipment supply.
- A company does not qualify as “local” merely because it is registered with PACRA. Under the local-content framework, qualifying status depends significantly on genuine Zambian citizen ownership.
- Qualifying local companies receive a 15% margin of preference when competing for applicable core mining procurement opportunities.
- Environmental compliance also changed in 2026. Zambia introduced new Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations under SI No. 3 of 2026, replacing the 1997 EIA framework.
What changed under Zambia mining regulations in 2026?
The biggest change is institutional. Zambia now regulates mining primarily through the Minerals Regulation Commission, established under the Minerals Regulation Commission Act No. 14 of 2024. The Act commenced on 13 June 2025 and repealed the Mines and Minerals Development Act No. 11 of 2015.
The new regime works alongside the Geological and Minerals Development Act No. 2 of 2025, which also commenced on 13 June 2025. That legislation covers geological surveys, mineral exploration, artisanal and small-scale mining development, local participation and related mineral-development matters.
| Regulatory development | Current position |
|---|---|
| Minerals Regulation Commission Act No. 14 of 2024 | In force from 13 June 2025 |
| Geological and Minerals Development Act No. 2 of 2025 | In force from 13 June 2025 |
| SI 68 of 2025: Mining Local Content Regulations | Effective from 1 January 2026 |
| Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, SI 3 of 2026 | Effective from 9 January 2026 |
| Occupational Health and Safety Act No. 16 of 2025 | Current OHS legislation |
| Minerals Regulation Commission Amendment Act No. 40 of 2026 | Enacted but currently listed as uncommenced |
The Minerals Regulation Commission Amendment Act No. 40 of 2026 was enacted in June 2026, but as of 17 August 2026 ZambiaLII still lists it among uncommenced legislation.
Companies should therefore be careful when using old legal templates, mining-right checklists or consultant reports prepared before June 2025.
What licences are needed to start mining in Zambia?
A company that intends to explore, mine, process or trade minerals must determine which Minerals Regulation Commission licence or permit applies before commencing the regulated activity. Company incorporation on its own does not give a business authority to conduct mining operations.
The 2024 Act provides for instruments including exploration licences, mining licences, mineral processing licences, gold-panning certificates, mineral trading permits and mineral import or export permits.
Mining licences include artisanal, small-scale and large-scale mining. Small-scale mining remains subject to citizen participation requirements. The legislation provides that small-scale mining may only be undertaken by a citizen-owned, citizen-influenced or citizen-empowered company.
Large-scale mining is different. There is no general rule that every large-scale mining company must be majority Zambian-owned. A foreign investor can therefore establish and invest in a Zambian large-scale mining operation, provided the company satisfies the relevant corporate, licensing, environmental, technical, financial, tax and operational requirements.
A serious mining investment will normally involve more than obtaining one mining licence. The investor may have to address:
- PACRA incorporation and beneficial ownership.
- Minerals Regulation Commission licensing.
- Mining cadastre and area requirements.
- Technical and financial capability.
- Environmental approval.
- Health and mine-safety requirements.
- Zambia Revenue Authority registrations.
- Employment and labour compliance.
- Ongoing regulatory returns and reporting.
The right structure should therefore be designed before significant capital is committed.
What environmental and safety approvals apply to mining?
Environmental approval is a separate compliance layer and should be addressed early in project planning. Zambia introduced the Environmental Management (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations, 2026, SI No. 3 of 2026, which came into effect on 9 January 2026 and replaced the previous 1997 EIA regulations.
The new system uses project classifications based on the scale, nature and environmental sensitivity of a development. Larger mining projects can require a full environmental and social assessment, while the applicable route for smaller projects depends on their classification.
This means an investor should not treat Zambia Environmental Management Agency approval as paperwork to complete after securing funding and equipment. Environmental requirements can influence project design, timelines, rehabilitation obligations and overall project economics.
Safety requirements have also moved.
The Occupational Health and Safety Act No. 16 of 2025 repealed and replaced Zambia’s previous 2010 legislation and strengthened workplace health and safety obligations.
For mining contractors, this matters even where the contractor does not own the mine. Engineering firms, maintenance contractors, transporters, drilling businesses and other companies placing employees on a mine site need proper health, safety and risk-management systems.
A tender win is not useful if your company fails the mine’s contractor onboarding process.
How do Zambia mining regulations affect mine suppliers?
For mine suppliers, SI 68 of 2025 may be the most commercially important mining regulation introduced in years. It requires mining and mining-related companies to progressively allocate part of their procurement budgets for core mining goods and services to qualifying local companies.
The regulations became operational on 1 January 2026.
The procurement thresholds rise over time:
| Period under the regulations | Minimum procurement threshold |
|---|---|
| First six-month stage | 20% |
| One-year stage | 25% |
| Two-year stage | 35% |
| Five-year stage | At least 40% |
As of 17 August 2026, the first six-month stage has already passed. Mining companies are therefore already operating within an active local-content compliance regime.
The opportunity is not restricted to companies selling excavators, drilling rigs or explosives.
The regulations also reserve qualifying non-core mining goods and services for local companies. The statutory framework distinguishes these from core products and services and requires qualifying non-core procurement critical to mining operations to be sourced from local companies.
This opens the mining value chain to businesses involved in areas such as security, catering, transport, logistics, cleaning, maintenance and professional support services where those activities fall within the schedules and requirements of the regulations.
If your company wants to enter the Zambian mining supply chain but does not know whether its ownership, licences and compliance documentation meet the new requirements, book a mining supplier compliance review with M&J Consultants. We assess the company structure, statutory position and market-entry gaps before you start approaching mine procurement departments. The first session is focused on identifying the exposure, not selling you unnecessary restructuring.
What qualifies as a local company under SI 68 of 2025?
A company is not a qualifying local company simply because it has “Zambia Limited” in its name. SI 68 defines a local company by reference to citizen-empowered and citizen-owned company classifications, making genuine Zambian participation central to qualification.
Government guidance around the regulations explains that the minimum threshold relevant to the regime begins with at least 25% of shares held by Zambian citizens. Citizen-empowered companies generally occupy the 25% to 50% citizen-equity range, while citizen-owned status requires higher Zambian ownership together with the relevant control requirements.
That distinction matters enormously for foreign suppliers.
Consider a South African industrial supplier that creates ABC Mining Supplies Zambia Limited, opens a Lusaka office and registers for tax, but retains 100% foreign ownership.
Registration in Zambia does not by itself turn ABC into a qualifying local company for every benefit under SI 68.
The foreign investor therefore needs to examine whether it will operate as a non-local supplier, establish a genuine citizen-empowered structure, enter a legitimate partnership, or adopt another compliant market-entry model.
Worked example: the 15% margin of preference
Assume two technically compliant companies bid to supply a mine:
| Supplier | Tender price |
|---|---|
| Foreign-controlled supplier | ZMW 1,000,000 |
| Qualifying local supplier | ZMW 1,000,000 |
Where the statutory 15% margin of preference applies, the qualifying local supplier’s price may be treated as ZMW 850,000 for evaluation purposes. It is not required to invoice ZMW 850,000. The preference affects tender evaluation rather than forcing the supplier to give a 15% commercial discount.
This changes tender strategy substantially.
There is also little room for artificial “paper shareholder” arrangements. Zambia’s Companies (Amendment) Act, 2025 defines beneficial ownership in a way that captures a natural person who directly or indirectly holds at least 5% of a legal person’s shares, among other circumstances.
Local-content structuring therefore needs substance.
Do you need a mining licence just to sell goods to a mine?
No. Selling ordinary goods or services to a mine does not automatically make your company a mining operator. The licence required depends on the activity being undertaken, not simply on whether your customer happens to be a mining company.
For example:
| Business activity | Mining right normally triggered simply by this activity? |
|---|---|
| Selling tyres to a copper mine | No |
| Providing accounting services to a mine | No |
| Providing staff training | No |
| Supplying mine-site catering | No mining right simply because the client is a mine |
| Operating a mining project | Yes, relevant mining authorisation required |
| Buying and reselling minerals | Mineral trading regulation applies |
The distinction becomes critical where the business buys or sells the mineral itself.
Section 30 of the Minerals Regulation Commission Act regulates mineral trading. A person who is not otherwise exempt under the Act cannot trade in minerals without the relevant mineral trading permit. A mineral trading permit is valid for three years and is renewable.
Buying copper concentrate, cobalt, manganese, gold or gemstones from producers for resale is therefore fundamentally different from supplying stationery, vehicles, consulting services or machinery to the producer.
How should a company prepare to supply mines in Zambia?
A mine supplier should build its compliance position before chasing procurement managers. Zambia’s new local-content regime means ownership, regulatory documentation, safety capability and supplier classification can now influence whether the company can compete for particular opportunities at all.
Start with these areas:
- Confirm PACRA compliance. Ensure company records, directors, shareholders and beneficial ownership information are accurate.
- Confirm ZRA compliance. Maintain appropriate tax registrations and a current compliance position.
- Review ownership. Establish whether the business actually qualifies as a local company under SI 68.
- Classify the offering. Determine whether your products or services are core or non-core under the local-content framework.
- Check sector licences. Security, transport, engineering, labour supply and other specialised activities may carry their own regulatory requirements.
- Build mine-ready HSE systems. A contractor sending employees onto a mine site should expect serious health and safety scrutiny.
- Prepare a complete vendor pack. Include corporate records, tax documents, ownership declarations, insurance, financial information, HSE policies, certifications, references and technical capability.
- Understand LOCAS. The Ministry introduced the Local Content Access System as part of implementation and reporting under the new local-content framework, including procurement plans and quarterly reporting.
- Plan working capital. A purchase order is not cash. Suppliers must be able to fund stock, mobilisation, salaries and operations while waiting for customer payment.
- Target procurement opportunities intelligently. A generic company profile sent to every mine is not a mining-sector strategy.
The companies that benefit most from Zambia’s local-content shift will not necessarily be the companies with the best-looking capability statements. They will be the ones that combine genuine capability with the correct ownership, compliance, financing and procurement positioning.
Conclusion
The Zambia mining regulations 2026 have changed the rules on both sides of the mining economy.
For investors, the Minerals Regulation Commission Act, Geological and Minerals Development Act, new environmental regulations and updated occupational health and safety framework mean that old mining-entry checklists need to be rebuilt.
For suppliers, SI 68 of 2025 is more than a compliance regulation. It is a market-access rule. Qualifying Zambian businesses now have procurement protections that can materially change who gets shortlisted and who wins.
The opportunity is real, but incorporation alone is not enough.
If you are planning to establish a mining company, restructure a foreign-owned mining supplier or position an existing Zambian business to sell to mines, book a mining-sector compliance and market-entry review with M&J Consultants. We map the licences, ownership requirements and compliance gaps around your specific activity so that you know what must be fixed before capital is committed or tenders are pursued.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main mining law in Zambia in 2026?
The principal mining regulatory statute is the Minerals Regulation Commission Act No. 14 of 2024, which came into operation on 13 June 2025. It repealed the Mines and Minerals Development Act of 2015 and established the Minerals Regulation Commission as the central mining regulator.
Can a foreigner own a mining company in Zambia?
Foreign investors can participate in large-scale mining in Zambia, subject to the applicable licensing, corporate, environmental, tax, technical and financial requirements. However, artisanal and small-scale mining have stronger citizen-participation restrictions, so investors must determine the correct mining category before structuring ownership.
What is SI 68 of 2025 in Zambia?
SI 68 of 2025 is Zambia’s Geological and Minerals Development local-content regulation for mining procurement. It took effect on 1 January 2026 and establishes local procurement thresholds, preference mechanisms and exclusive reservation of qualifying non-core mining procurement for local companies.
How much Zambian ownership is needed to qualify as a local mine supplier?
Government implementation guidance states that the minimum qualification point under SI 68 begins at 25% Zambian citizen shareholding, subject to the relevant citizen-empowered or citizen-owned company requirements. Merely incorporating a Zambian subsidiary does not automatically create qualifying local-company status.
Do I need a mining licence to supply a mine in Zambia?
Not simply because your customer is a mine. A business supplying accounting, ICT, catering, tyres, security or other ordinary goods and services does not become a mining operator purely because it serves a mine. Separate sector licences may still apply depending on the service.
Do I need a permit to buy and sell minerals in Zambia?
Yes, where the transaction constitutes regulated mineral trading and no statutory exemption applies. The Minerals Regulation Commission Act provides for a mineral trading permit, which is valid for three years and renewable.