The African unit of Eurasian Resources Group S.à r.l. will suspend operations at the refinery of its Chambishi project in Zambia due to shortage of copper and cobalt concentrates needed for cathode production, Reuters reported Jan. 23, citing a company statement.

"It was not possible to locate appropriate feedstock in Zambia. We are in the process of placing the plant on care and maintenance," ERG Africa said in a statement.

The mining company said that it was engaged with stakeholders and was exploring other sources of feed to resume operations.

The Chambishi Metals refinery has a capacity of 6,800 tonnes per annum of cobalt metal and 55,000 tonnes per annum of copper metal, and is the only plant in Zambia that produces cobalt metal.