Dr. Godwin Beene is a prominent figure in Zambia’s mining industry. He currently serves as the Country Manager for First Quantum Minerals (FQM) Zambia, a role he has held since January 2023. FQM operates several major mines in Zambia, including Kansanshi, Trident, and Enterprise, and is the country’s largest taxpayer. Dr. Beene’s journey began in the remote Makala Village in Monze District, Southern Province. Despite facing significant challenges, including attending school without shoes, he pursued higher education with determination. Sponsored by a mining firm, he studied chemical engineering in the United Kingdom, earning his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wales in 1978. He later obtained a master’s degree and a Ph.D., specializing in the behavior of natural mineral systems. Throughout his career, Dr. Beene has made significant contributions to Zambia’s mining sector. He worked at the Nchanga Tailings Leach Plant, the largest hydrometallurgical plant in Africa at the time, and served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines between 2009 and 2011. In 2021, he was appointed President of the Zambia Chamber of Mines. Dr. Beene is known for his resilience and dedication, playing a crucial role in bridging the gap between the government and the mining industry, and promoting transparency and investment in Zambia’s mining sector Dr Beene who is First Quantum Minerals Government Relations Specialist took over the mantle on 5th March 2021, after the Council of the Zambia Chamber of Mines elected him. In accepting his appointment, Dr Beene presented his immediate priority as being close engagement with all stakeholders. This engagement will aim at ensuring the mining sector becomes competitive again and attracts new investors while motivating expansion by existing investors who have boldly weathered local and international storms since 2000. Dr Beene pointed to the perfect storm of copper demand growing fundamentals driven by North American, Chinese and European governments’ resolve to stimulate their economies by ramping up green energy generation and rolling out supporting infrastructure that will accelerate the speed of uptake of electric vehicles. “We need to maximize on this opportunity to change the fortunes of the industry from those of the last fifteen years that have seen production fluctuate below 1million tons per annum. Hard as it is to accept, Zambia must regard capital flows into less endowed and even into more operationally challenging jurisdictions as lost investment. As long as tax measures such as the non-deductibility of mineral royalty persist, even at 50 per cent deductibility as suggested by some, Zambian mining will remain uncompetitive and unable to afford the cost of capital. Half a unique impediment remains an impediment.” The incoming Chamber President said that the Chamber of Mines will continue to play its role in highlighting to government and stakeholders' impediments to growth in the sector, alerting the Ministry of Mines of the emerging opportunities and trends in the industry and fostering transparency under the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) umbrella.