UPDATE 1-Zambia power cuts hit Canada's First Quantum, Barrick

(Adds comments for Zambia chamber of mines)
By Chris Mfula
LUSAKA, July 28 (Reuters) - Power cuts in north-western
Zambia, Africa's second-biggest copper producer, have affected
production at mines run by Canada's First Quantum Minerals
FM.TO and Barrick Gold ABX.TO , an industry body said on
Tuesday.
Zambian power utility Zesco Ltd is limiting power it
supplies to customers, including mining companies, after water
levels at its hydro-electric plants dropped due to drought.
ID:nL8N0ZN2LD
"Power was reduced to both First Quantum Minerals and
Lumwana over the weekend," Jackson Sikamo, President of the
Zambian Chamber of Mines said.
Lumwana is Barrick's open-pit copper mine.
First Quantum said in a statement its Kansanshi mine,
smelter and its greenfield Sentinel project were running at
reduced capacities.
"Various options to alleviate the effect on production are
being evaluated," the company said in a statement released on
Monday.
First Quantum said it was unable to provide estimates on how
long the power supply reduction would last or its impact on
production.
First Quantum's Zambian smelter, which ramped up in
February, is expected to produce over 300,000 tonnes of copper
metal from around 1.2 million tonnes of concentrate a year, when
it reaches full operation.
Zesco has hired independent power producers to procure more
electricity by the end of 2015, First Quantum said.
Supply to the mineral-rich Copperbelt province was not
affected, Sikamo said, adding that power cuts were imminent.
An industry source Zesco said Copperbelt Energy Corp
CECZ.LZ , which buys electricity in bulk and supplies it to
mines in the Copperbelt province, would slash power by as much
as 25 percent.
Other foreign companies running mines in the southern
African nation include Glencore GLEN.L , Impala Platinum
IMPJ.J and Vedanta Resources VED.L .