Zambia has received bids from Canada’s First Quantum Minerals (FQM) and others for a 17 percent stake in state mining investment arm ZCCM-IH, the finance minister said on Tuesday.

“There are multiple unsolicited offers on the table, including from FQM, which are based on preferential share conversions,” said Margaret Mwanakatwe on the sidelines of a mining conference in Cape Town.

“The offers relate to the ministry’s 17 percent holding in ZCCM-IH and a sale would be subject to cabinet approval,” she said.

(By Barbara Lewis, Zandi Shabalala and Chris Mfula; Editing by Edmund Blair)