LUSAKA, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Zambia, Africa's second largest producer of copper, saw the metal's production increase by 8.2 percent in the first three quarters of 2016, according to figures released on Friday.
Copper production increased to 575,780 tonnes during the first nine months of the year, up from 531,163 tonnes in the same period of 2015, according to figures released by the Ministry of Finance.
However, earnings from copper fell to 3.2 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months from 4 billion dollars during the same period last year due to unfavorable global commodity prices, which also affected the country's total export earnings.
