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Anglo American partnership brings Covid-19 testing for 130 000 people in Zambia

26 November, 2020

Anglo American is today opening a Covid-19 testing laboratory, located in Solwezi, Zambia, close to its mineral exploration activities and in support of the Zambian government’s efforts to increase testing capacity in the country’s North-Western province. 

In partnership with First Quantum Minerals, this Covid-19 testing laboratory will benefit 130 000 people in the Zambezi and Chavuma districts over the next 12 months, representing one of the largest private sector-led Covid-19 testing initiatives in the country.

David Wood, Discovery Manager at Anglo American, said: “We are pleased to be supporting the Zambian government’s efforts to increase Covid-19 testing capacity in Zambia. We have been working on this initiative for some time now, and are pleased that it will ensure that the communities close to where we are exploring have access to rapid and high quality testing services – crucial in helping manage the spread of Covid-19.”

Anglo American’s investment in this initiative will enable the initial sourcing of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing kits, medical consumables and personal protective equipment for those on the frontline. Specimens will be transported from the Zambezi and Chavuma districts to the Anglo American Covid-19 testing laboratory in Solwezi.

First Quantum Minerals will assist with the day-to-day running of the testing laboratory, working with Anglo American to ensure that the testing strategy is implemented successfully. The two companies have also partnered with the Mary Begg Clinic in Solwezi, Zambia, which will provide its health expertise. This initiative is supported by the Zambian government through its various health agencies: the Zambian Ministry of Health, the Health Professions Council of Zambia, and the Zambian Medicines Regulatory Authority.

Anthony Mukutuma, General Manager at First Quantum Minerals, said: “Zambia is an important jurisdiction for us. Lending a hand to help the country with its response to this pandemic is something we take pride in. We are proud of our partnership with Anglo American, which has enabled the successful commissioning of this testing facility.”

This initiative forms part of Anglo American’s global WeCare lives and livelihoods programme in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. WeCare aims to provide wide-ranging support and help to safeguard the company’s employees and host communities from the spread and other social and economic effects of the pandemic. Since the onset of the pandemic, Anglo American has invested over $40 million globally into relief efforts in southern Africa, the Americas, Australia and the UK.

For further information, please contact:

Media
South Africa
Sibusiso Tshabalala
Email: [email protected]
Nomonde Ndwalaza
Email: [email protected]

Notes to editors:

About WeCare

WeCare is Anglo American’s global response programme to support the lives and livelihoods of our workforce and host communities through the health, social and economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our mines and host communities, which are also often home to much of our workforce, operate as an ecosystem, and both must be healthy to prosper.

Across our operational footprint and in those communities that are local to our operations, our WeCare programme provides information and extensive practical support across four pillars of: physical health, mental health, living with dignity, and community response.

Physical Health – education and behavioural change to support personal health and hygiene; health screening and testing; PPE and medical equipment and facilities.

Mental Health – employee support programmes to assist with mental health management, including employee App and online events and digital materials.

Living with Dignity – direct employee and community support to combat gender-based and domestic violence; work with health authorities to identify abuse cases and referrals to support mechanisms.

Community Response – wide-ranging livelihoods programme to support communities through the social and economic effects of the pandemic, including: public information campaigns aimed at health and hygiene, health screening and Covid-19 testing, support for health service provision, continuation of essential services (e.g., water, energy, accommodation), food package distribution, employee match-giving programme, support for SMEs and entrepreneurs, support for teachers and students, job training for post-pandemic employability, regional development planning to enhance local economic activity for the long term.

Anglo American is a leading global mining company and our products are the essential ingredients in almost every aspect of modern life. Our portfolio of world-class competitive operations, development projects and undeveloped resources provides many of the metals and minerals that enable a cleaner, greener, more sustainable world and that meet the fast-growing consumer-driven demands of developed and maturing economies. With our people at the heart of our business, we use innovative practices and the latest technologies to mine, process, move and market our products to our customers – and to discover new resources – safely and sustainably.

As a responsible producer of diamonds (through De Beers), copper, platinum group metals, the steelmaking ingredients of iron ore and metallurgical coal, and nickel – with crop nutrients in development and thermal coal operations planned for divestment – we are committed to being carbon neutral across our operations by 2040. We work together with our business partners and diverse stakeholders to unlock sustainable value from precious natural resources for the benefit of the communities and countries in which we operate, for society as a whole, and for our shareholders. Anglo American is re-imagining mining to improve people’s lives.

www.angloamerican.com