By Derrick Silimina
Braving the sweltering afternoon heat, Joseph Mbomena skillfully engages the gears of the giant dump truck atop the FQM Trident’s Enterprise Nickel Mine in Kalumbila District of North-Western Province.
Mbomena, aged 35, is a trained local dump truck operator working at Mineral Link, a Zambian-owned company renowned for its expertise in bulk road-based logistics. He operates at FQM Trident’s Enterprise Nickel Mine, which is a subsidiary of First Quantum Minerals (FQM).
“I am super excited to be among the few young local people trained by Mineral Link to operate their heavy-duty trucks here at the mine site. This opportunity has really transformed my livelihood,” he said.
Mbomena, a local resident of Kisasa area, stressed that his remarkable personal growth and ambition initially started while working as a cook at Allterrain Services (ATS) Group, a key contractor providing catering services at FQM Trident mine.
Aspired to one day work for the mine, he later transitioned to become a qualified dump truck operator at Mineral Link, illustrating his progression within the mining industry and inspiring other youth to pursue diverse career opportunities in this sector.
Mbomena is among other young people's stories that exemplifies the emerging opportunities within the mining industry as their experiences serve as an inspiration to their community, encouraging peers to explore careers beyond traditional roles and highlighting the potential for youth to engage in dynamic, modern sectors.
“I am very grateful to FQM Trident for having engaged my employers - Mineral Link, a viable mine initiative that has benefited us local people through skills development and job creation.”
The Zambian government recently enacted the Local Content Statutory Instrument (SI) No. 68, targeting the mining sector to boost the participation of local SMEs. Signed into law in October 2025, this SI requires mining companies to allocate a designated percentage of their procurement activities to Zambian-owned businesses, thereby fostering local enterprise growth and broader involvement of local SMEs within the mining industry.
Mineral Link Limited, a prominent Zambian-owned company, is considered a major success story in local business empowerment. This success is attributed to its strategic partnership with FQM Trident, which encompasses the Sentinel and Enterprise mines in Kalumbila, ultimately strengthening its position within the industry.
“We first got introduced at FQM Trident in 2022 as a service provider with one bulldozer. Through-out the years, the mining firm has groomed us into being one of their support contractors here at their mine pit,” said Mineral Link Operations Director Melvin Karabassis.
Established in 2001, Karabassis hinted that his firm has built a reputation for its expertise in bulk road-based logistics, primarily involving the transportation of large volumes of ore, copper concentrates, and heavy materials.
He added that over the past four years, the company has transitioned from being solely a service provider to being considered for major projects, including the Kansanshi S3 project and ore haulage at the Enterprise mine site in Kalumbila district.
Mineral Link Limited specializes in providing comprehensive solutions for the mining and infrastructure sectors with its core services encompass maintaining and hiring out a fleet of major capital equipment, such as Articulated Dump Trucks (ADTs), Front-end Loaders, Bulldozers, and Excavators, to mines and contractors. Additionally, the company acts as a mining supplier of various goods and backup services necessary for uninterrupted mine operations. It also offers essential services including civil engineering, road construction, de-silting, and comprehensive mining support.
“We’ve got an agreement with Trident Foundation to ensure that a lot of our locals get equal opportunities as well to participate in some of the mining activities. We have an apprentice programme especially on our ADTs side of business where we take seven students every three months from the Mbole Training Institute and those that excel get full-time employment,” Karabassis said.
Karabassis is optimistic that FQM Trident continues to reaffirm its commitment to promoting local business empowerment. As a result, Mineral Link has grown to become a key player in the Zambian mining supply chain, contributing to local employment and capacity building - a significant milestone in the ongoing drive to build sustainable local capacity within the mining logistics sector.
Mineral Link Site Manager Samuel Mpempulwa has praised FQM Trident for their purposeful efforts to develop local mine contractors and suppliers adding that the approach has a multiplier effect, benefiting not only the involved companies but also the surrounding communities.
“Our operational plan is both efficient and ambitious. We mobilise around 25 tipper trucks to handle 100 percent of ore movement volumes to reach full operational capacity. This fleet will operate at an optimal utilisation rate of 85 percent, supported by a highly trained local workforce,” Mpempulwa said.
He disclosed that since its inception with only 25 employees, Mineral Link has now employed over 70 local drivers, including tipper drivers, loader operators, dozer operators, excavator operators, as well as maintenance and supervisory staff.
Mpempulwa further allayed the notion that Zambian contractors lack the capacity to execute quality services and meet the demand expected in the mining supply chain.
“We have a belief and motto that Zambians can do it too and as much as we keep challenging the status quo. We are here to change the narrative on Zambian contractors and their capabilities. We urge other corporate organizations to emulate what FQM Trident is doing to harness local talent just like the way they have done to Mineral Link.”
In this context, FQM Trident Superintendent of Commercial Contracts Thomas Lungu emphasized that the partnership between the mining company and Minerallink is centered on skills transfer, workforce development, and job creation. This collaboration aims to source locally produced goods and services, improve community engagement, and upskill local workers through initiatives such as the Mbole Trades School.
“For FQM Trident and Mineral Link or any other vendor, there is a knowledge transfer, there's a skills transfer that obviously FQM benefits from at a group level, but is able to bring to contractors as well at a local level. And we also have active community based employment initiatives through the Trident Foundation limited and all that feeds into this partnership at a wider level,” Lungu stated.
He demonstrated that Mineral Link, through its unique subcontractors, is also benefiting from the partnership, an approach that enables them to reach a broader audience than FQM Trident could achieve alone, resulting in a multiplier effect that extends significantly to local vendors and the community at large.
Lungu emphasized that, given Zambia's status as a predominantly mining-driven economy, the unique partnership between FQM Trident and Mineral Link will play a significant role in facilitating skills transfer, workforce development, and job creation, a collaboration expected to have a positive impact on local employment and capacity building within the industry.
“We are basically moving a service that we've previously done ourselves and giving that to a local contractor without any change in scope, basically moving our own people and our own feet to do something that is closer to our business.”
