(Recasts with union comment)
By Chris Mfula
LUSAKA, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Thousands of miners in Zambia maylose their jobs due to power supply problems and sinking copperprices, the head of the country's largest mining union said onTuesday.
Erratic electricity supplies have hit the mining industry inthe southern African nation, the continent's second biggestcopper producer, where the bulk of electricity is water-powered.
Meanwhile the price of copper is at six-year lows, weighedon by an economic slowdown in China, one of the world's biggestconsumers of metals and other raw materials.
"Some of our members have already been told that they willeither be sent on forced leave without pay, recess, which meansthey stay home on full pay to avoid paying them other expenseslike over-time allowance or outright retrenchment," NkoleChishimba, president of the Mine Workers' Union of Zambia toldReuters, without naming the firms.
Chishimba said the government should urgently call for ameeting with mining companies and the trade unions to discussthe looming jobs cuts. The MUZ represents about 25,000 workers,he said.
Zambian state power utility Zesco Ltd said on Tuesday itwill deepen power cuts after water levels at its largest hydropower station dropped following a drought, potentially affectingmining.
"Power generation at Kariba North Bank power station hasbeen reduced to 305 megawatts from 540 megawatts," Zescospokeswoman Bessie Banda said.
"The idea is for us to conserve water and continuegenerating power until the next rainy season."
The government would procure emergency power from Septemberonwards into 2016 and Zesco has been importing electricity fromMozambique and the Southern African Power Pool, Banda said. Shedid not say when emergency power procurement would end in 2016.
Zambia's largest supplier of power to mines, CopperbeltEnergy Corp, is also experiencing severe powershortages and has had to limit electricity supplies to bigmining firms including Vedanta Resources and Glencore.
Canada's First Quantum, whose power is supplied byZesco, said last month it would cut thousands of jobs after thereduction in electricity supply curbed production.
Most other countries in southern Africa, including SouthAfrica, Botswana and Zimbabwe are also grappling with powersupply shortages.
Zimbabwe's power utility said on Tuesday its two biggestelectricity generation plants will start annual routinemaintenance on Tuesday, leading to even deeper power cuts. (Editing by James Macharia and Greg Mahlich)
