KGHM appeals for lower mining tax

The Polish government should cut down the country’s mining tax, Herbert Wirth, CEO of copper and silver mining giant KGHM, told news agency IAR after the opening ceremony of the company’s Sierra Gorda mine in Chile, where costs are some 40 percent lower than in Poland. “This is a tax that blocks new investments in Poland and has negative impact on the group’s financial results,” Wirth said. He added that one of the firm’s Polish units, in Lubin is permanently unprofitable. In 2012 KGHM paid more than PLN 1.5 billion in mining tax. This year the payment may reach PLN 2 billion.