Zambia’s mining sector currently accounts for over 80% of the country’s total export earnings,
contributes about 11 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and it has created over
65,000 jobs in the fourth largest copper producing country in the world. It is worth noting that
the improvement in the sector’s performance is highly attributed to a favourable investment
climate and competitive global metal prices, among other factors. This is evidenced by the
expansion of the industry both in terms of quantity and type of minerals mined in the country.
This article reports on new direct foreign investments, the impacts of new mining concessions
on local livelihoods and the conflicts they have triggered. The authors review evidence
regarding debates on the resource curse and the possibility of an extraction-led pathway to
development and its consequent social conflicts. Further, the authors describe different types
of resentments and social mobilization that have greeted mineral expansion at two mining
concessions within the country, and consider how far these conflicts have changed the
relationships between mining firms and local communities. The conclusions in this paper
address how far economic benefit-based social conflicts can be managed in mining
communities so that the very investment that was meant to improve the livelihoods of the
local people in those communities is not threatened.