Production at global metals and mining company First Quantum Minerals’ Sentinel copper mine, in Zambia, for the first quarter of this year was broadly in line with the company’s expectations, with production having increased by 3% year-on-year. The company posits that innovation helped ensure the robust management of costs, reducing the unit cost of production, but savings were outweighed by a dramatic rise in mineral royalty tax as a result of high world copper prices that pushed the country's largest taxpayers to the highest level of the tiered tax system. The 58 252 t of production during the quarter at Sentinel ... (full story)