A mining firm in Zambia is stuck with 60, 000 tons of copper concentrates because all the country's smelters are heavily congested with the mineral, the Times of Zambia reported on Tuesday.

Kansanshi Mine Plc, owned by Canada's First Quantum Minerals Limited situated in northwestern Zambia's Solwezi district, says it has failed to turn the copper concentrates into cathodes because all the smelters were crammed up and the company is appealing for a duty waiver so that it could export the concentrates.

The company, which does not own a smelter of its own but transports the copper concentrates to other mining firms that have smelters, has appealed for a waiver on the concentrates which currently stands at 10 percent so that the pile-up of the concentrates could be reduced.

"We are sitting on as much as 60, 000 tons of copper concentrates. The smelters on the Copperbelt province are choker blocker and we cannot export this concentrate because it will attract a 10 percent duty and that makes it more expensive," Matt Pascall, the company's director of operations, was quoted as saying by the paper.

He said the government will gain more money if the company is allowed to take the concentrates to neighboring countries for processing.

"We are not going to export it because that 10 percent duty is just going to make this copper expensive, some of these taxes are just stifling income for government and increasing cost of production," he added.

Last year, the mining firm witnessed an increased production at its Zambian mine, resulting in the production of 400, 000 tons of finished copper.

Owing to anticipated increased copper production at its mine and another new mine which it intends to start, the company has decided to construct its own smelter at a cost of 650 million dollars.