The Zambian government on Friday announced new tax measures in efforts aimed at getting more revenue from the mining sector, which accounts for about 70 percent of the country's foreign exchange earnings.

Finance Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe said the government intends to increase mineral royalty rates by 1.5 percentage points at all levels of the sliding scale as well as introduce a fourth tier rate at 10 percent on the sliding scale mineral royalty regime which would apply when copper prices rise beyond 7,500 U.S. dollars per ton.

"Our nation is endowed with vast mineral resources which transcend beyond copper and cobalt. As mineral resources are a depleting resource, it is vital to structure an effective fiscal regime for the mining sector to ensure that Zambians benefit from the mineral wealth our country is blessed with," she said during the unveiling of the 2019 national budget.

She further said the government intends to make mineral royalty tax non-deductible for income tax purposes and also introduce an import duty at the rate of five percent on copper and cobalt concentrates.

The government, she said, will also introduce export duty on precious metals including gold, precious stones and gemstones at the rate of 15 percent.

On Wednesday, mining firms called for a stable fiscal and regulatory regime in order to spur the industry to higher growth.

The mining firms said stability in the fiscal and regulatory regime complimented with a few more non-cash actions such as restoring working capital tied up in value added tax will go a long way in position Zambia's mining industry for double digit growth.