A local Business Consultant says the mining industry should realise that it is running away from the reality that it has to accept the proposed changes in the 2019 national budget.
GN Grants Managing Consultant Grandy Ntumbo says the worst case scenario would be for the mines to put their operations on care and maintenance after retrenching a number of workers.
He says Mining is still profitable and should things get worse, government should find a partner to work with to improve the situation.
In an interview with Money FM Business radio, Mr. Ntumbo has advised government to stand its ground and that Zambians should rally behind the minister of finance.
The Zambia Chamber of Mines warned that the new mine tax regime proposed by Government will lead to more than 21,000 job losses and operators cutting $500 million in capital spending over the next three years
Some Stakeholders have however encouraged the government to stand its ground and not bow to the demands of the industry.
Meanwhile Mr. Ntumbo says the Energy Regulation Board is justified to maintain the local fuel prices because of the fluctuations on the international markets.
The ERB said in a statement on 14th December that there will be no fuel price adjustments for the month of December citing the depreciating Kwacha.
GN Grants Managing consultant Grandy Ntumbo explains that the board is waiting for the market to stabilize in order to make a fixed decision on the prices of the commodity.

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