Although hitherto there have been sociological, economic, and historical accounts of the copper mining industry on the Copperbelt of Zambia, this is the first detailed legal study of mining rights in the country. The first half of the study attempts to present the law in historical perspective and the second is essentially an examination of the law as it applies today. Chapter One is introductory and gives a general political history, and demographic facts about the country; discusses the importance of minerals in the Zambian economy, the nature of the study, the sources of information, and the scope of the study ; and attempts to clarify the meaning and purposes of mining law. It shows that Zambia, once a British protectorate, is a sparsely populated country that is heavily dependent on its minerals for economic survival, that the study examines the main legislation relating to mining rights in Zambia, and that the basic role of mining legislation is to ensure the development and discovery of the country's mineral resources. Chapter Two discusses mineral systems generally, and defines some of the technical terms used - such as "mines", "minerals", and "mining rights- and the sources of law affecting mining rights. This reveals that mining activities even in their earliest days were the subject of extensive regulation especially on matters of ownership and, that the main sources of the law affecting mineral rights are legislation, customary law, and the common law.