NYSE- and TSX-listed Barrick Gold has not sold its biggest copper mine, Lumwana, in Zambia, but given the challenging conditions the mine is facing, “all options" are on the table.

The Canada-headquartered company on Monday said that it was continuing to engage with the Zambian government and community stakeholders about a mutually-beneficial way forward for the operation.

Subsequent to the first Lumwana board meeting following the Barrick/Randgold merger, Barrick CEO for Africa and Middle East Willem Jacobs said that the company was mindful that the government was under pressure to increase its revenue.

At the same time, however, the government’s proposed tax changes would put Lumwana in a challenging situation.

According to Jacobs, the proposed changes to taxes and royalties would imperil the mine’s ability to sustain returns to all stakeholders, such as the contribution of more than $3.3-billion it has already made to the Zambian economy over the past decade.

“Lumwana has made detailed proposals to the government about a partnership approach which would provide the State with an improved share in the economics of Lumwana without overburdening the mine,” he elaborated.

Finding a win-win solution between the industry and government would increase investor confidence in Zambia, and safeguard the long-term prospects of its mining industry, Jacobs stated.

Zambia increased its mining royalties on January 1, to reduce its public debt. The sliding scale for royalties of 4% to 6% increased by 1.5 percentage points and the country is also introducing a new 10% royalty when the price of copper exceeds $7 500/t.

This is the tenth mining-related tax change in the past 16 years and Zambian miners have warned that the country is pricing itself out of the global mining market. Already, First Quantum has announced staff cuts of 2 500 people in reaction to the higher mining taxes.

Lumwana has been a thorn in the side of Barrick for some time. The group bought Equinox – the company that contains the Lumwana mine – for $7.6-billion in 2011, but wrote down the investment to about $4.2-billion in 2013.

Barrick executive chairperson John Thornton has previously described the 2011 purchase of Equinox as “one of the worst acquisitions in history”.