Zambia expects to increase its annual copper output to 1.5million tons, boosted mainly by improved electricity supply, mines minister Christopher Yaluma said yesterday. “The outlook for Zambian mining looks very, very positive,” he told the African News Agency on the sidelines of the annual international mining conference taking place in Cape Town. “We had power constraints that have been cleared. “We had restricted the mining industry to 70percent instead of 100percent power availability. “We are around 800000 tons (copper production), but we feel, come next year, we’ll hit 1.5million tons,” Yaluma added. “We have a lot of potential investors who have shown an interest, who come to pick up exploration licences at such times (conferences),” Yaluma added.-IOL