LOCAS Ministry Administration Guide
Comprehensive guide for MMMD staff — system setup, user management, compliance monitoring, and enforcement
What is LOCAS?
The Local Content Assessment System (LOCAS) is the official tool used by the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development (MMMD) to monitor and enforce compliance with SI 2025 — Geological and Minerals Development (Preference for Zambian Goods and Services) Regulations.
As a Ministry user, you oversee mining companies' compliance across four key pillars:
Procurement
Monitor local content procurement thresholds — 20% → 25% → 35% → 40% progressive targets for core goods/services.
Employment
Track workforce localisation — Zambianisation targets for management, technical, and operational roles.
Supplier Development
Oversee SDP programmes — 0.05% of annual procurement value invested in developing Zambian suppliers.
Compliance & Enforcement
Review compliance reports, manage cases, issue penalties, and track payment (PoP) for non-compliant mines.
Ministry User Roles
| Role | Access Level | Primary Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
| Local Content Officer | Standard Backend | Review tenders, run compliance reports, manage cases and penalties, verify suppliers, process mine registrations |
| Local Content Manager | Senior Backend | All officer duties plus managerial oversight, approval of escalated items, SDP review |
| System Administrator | Full System | All of the above plus: user management, system configuration, threshold settings, penalty category setup, reporting period management |
Getting Started
Logging In
Access the Backend
Navigate to the system URL and log in with your credentials. Ministry users access the backend interface (not the portal). After login you will see the main Odoo menu bar at the top.
Open the LOCAS App
Click the LOCAS icon in the app drawer (grid icon at top left), or use the app sidebar if enabled. This takes you to the Ministry Dashboard.
Explore the Dashboard
The executive dashboard shows at-a-glance metrics:
- Total Procurement Spend — aggregate across all mining companies
- Local Content % — current vs target threshold
- Capital Flight — spend going to non-local suppliers
- Compliance Rate — percentage of compliant mines
- Employment Zambianisation % — workforce localisation
- SDP Investment — budget vs actual supplier development spend
- Quarterly Trend Charts — visual spend and compliance trends
Main Menu Structure
The LOCAS backend is organised into these main menu sections:
| Menu | What You'll Find |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | Executive overview with KPIs, charts, and summary metrics |
| Procurement | Procurement plans, tender declarations, tenders, exceptions (exemptions) |
| Employment | Employment status reports (Form III) from mining companies |
| Supplier Development | SDP master components, supplier registry, SDP programmes, KPI milestones, reports |
| Monitoring | Reporting periods, compliance reports, MoP violations, compliance checks, cases, penalties |
| Configuration | Mining companies, mine registrations, notifications, penalty categories, UoMs, stakeholders, system settings |
User Management
LOCAS has three categories of users: Mining Company (portal), Supplier (portal), and MMMD/Ministry (backend). Only System Administrators can manage users.
Creating Ministry Users
Go to Settings → Users & Companies → Users
Click "New" to create a new user record.
Fill in User Details
Enter the user's name, email address (used for login), and set the user type to "Internal User".
Assign LOCAS Groups
Scroll down to the "MMMD Users" section in the access rights tab and select the appropriate group:
- Local Content Officer — day-to-day compliance review and enforcement
- Local Content Manager / Directorate Lead — includes all officer permissions plus managerial oversight
- System Administrator — full system access including configuration (requires Odoo Administration rights)
Send Invitation
Save the user and click "Send an Invitation Email". The user will receive a link to set their password.
Mining Company Portal Users
Mining company users are created automatically during the Mine Registration workflow (see below). Each approved mine gets portal users with these groups:
| Group | Can Do |
|---|---|
| Reporting Officer | Enter procurement data, employment data, upload tenders — but cannot approve or submit to ministry |
| Compliance Officer | All reporting officer duties plus review submitted data and manage supplier relationships |
| Company Administrator | Full access — approves and submits all forms to the ministry, manages company users, full portal access |
Inviting Additional Company Users
To invite more users for an existing mining company:
Go to Configuration → Mining Companies and open the company's contact record.
Use the "Invite User" wizard (available as a button or via the action menu) to send portal invitations.
Supplier Portal Users
Suppliers register through the public registration page. They can also be invited by mining companies or ministry staff using the Supplier Invite wizard. Supplier groups are:
- Supplier Staff — view-only portal access to their own supplier profile
- Supplier Administrator — full portal access to manage the supplier's profile, ownership, and documents
System Configuration
Before LOCAS is fully operational, a System Administrator should review and confirm all regulatory parameters. Go to Settings → LOCAS to access the configuration panel.
SI 2025 Regulatory Parameters
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| SI 2025 Start Date | 1 Jan 2026 | Commencement date for all threshold calculations |
| 6-Month Threshold | 20% | Minimum local content procurement % after 6 months |
| 12-Month Threshold | 25% | Minimum after 12 months |
| 24-Month Threshold | 35% | Minimum after 24 months |
| 5-Year Threshold | 40% | Minimum after 5 years (ongoing) |
Margin of Preference (Regulation 5)
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Margin of Preference % | 15% | Discount applied to local bids when evaluating against non-local bids for core goods/services. If (Local Bid − 15%) ≤ Non-local Bid, local MUST win. |
Supplier Development Programme (Regulation 7)
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| SDP Minimum Budget % | 0.05% | Minimum percentage of annual procurement value that must be invested in supplier development |
Employment
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Zambianisation Target | 60% | Target percentage of Zambian nationals in workforce |
Penalty Configuration
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Base Penalty Units | 1,000,000 | Number of penalty units for initial offence |
| Daily Continued Offence Units | 150,000 | Additional penalty units per day of continued non-compliance |
| Penalty Unit Value (ZMW) | 0.30 | Monetary value per penalty unit — Base penalty = 1,000,000 × ZMW 0.30 = ZMW 300,000 |
Threshold Checkpoints
Checkpoints define the specific dates when threshold values change. These are pre-configured to match SI 2025:
| Checkpoint | Date | Threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Check 1 | 1 July 2026 | 20% |
| Check 2 | 1 January 2027 | 25% |
| Check 3 | 1 January 2028 | 35% |
| Ongoing (yearly) | From 2031 | 40% |
Other Configuration Items
- Penalty Categories — Configuration → Compliance → Penalty Categories. Define the types of violations and their associated penalty structures.
- Employment Categories — Configuration → Employment Categories. Define job categories for workforce reporting (e.g., Management, Technical, Skilled Operations).
- Units of Measure — Configuration → Mining Companies → Units of Measure. Manage UoMs used in procurement items (e.g., Tonnes, Litres, Each, Hours).
- Commodities — Configuration → Mining Companies → Commodities. Define mineral commodities mined (e.g., Copper, Cobalt, Gold).
- SDP Components — Supplier Development → SDP Components (Master). Define the programme components that mining companies can include in their SDPs.
- Schedule Items — The First Schedule (Core) and Second Schedule (Non-Core) items from SI 2025 are pre-loaded. These define the categories of goods and services for procurement classification.
Mine Registration
Before a mining company can use the LOCAS portal, they must be registered and approved by the Ministry. This is a maker-checker workflow.
Registration Workflow
Step-by-Step
Create Registration
Go to Configuration → Mine Registrations and click "New". Enter the mining company's details: name, TPIN, contact person, email, mine sites, and commodities.
Generate Token & Send Email
Click "Generate Token & Send Email". This:
- Creates an inactive partner and portal user for the company
- Sends a registration confirmation email with a secure token link
- Moves the registration to "Token Sent" state
Company Completes Registration
The mining company clicks the link in their email, which takes them to a form to complete their profile details. Once submitted, the registration moves to "Pending Approval".
Approve or Reject
Approve: Click "Approve". This activates the partner and user, assigns portal groups (Company Administrator), creates the locas.mining.company profile, and sends a password reset email.
Reject: Click "Reject". A wizard opens to enter the rejection reason, and a notification email is sent to the company.
Reporting Periods
Reporting periods define the time windows in which mining companies must submit their compliance data. They are the backbone of all compliance monitoring.
Creating Reporting Periods
Go to Monitoring → Reporting Periods and click "New", or use the "Generate Periods" wizard to auto-create all quarterly periods for a given year.
Each period has a start date, end date, submission deadline, and type (Quarterly or Annual). Periods are displayed in a Kanban view grouped by status: Draft → Open → Closed.
What Happens Each Period
- Mining companies submit Procurement Plans, Tenders, Employment Status (Form III), and SDP Reports (Form V)
- The system auto-generates Procurement Summaries at the start of each quarter
- At period close, Compliance Reports are auto-generated for each mining company
Procurement Oversight
Procurement Plans
Each mining company submits an annual procurement plan (Form I basis). Go to Procurement → Procurement Plan to view all plans.
- Plans flow through: Draft → Submitted → Approved
- Review the plan's line items, estimated values, and local/non-local split
- Use "Reject" to send back with comments for revision
Tender Declarations
Go to Procurement → Tender Declarations. These are batch submissions from mining companies listing their tenders for a reporting period.
Tenders
Go to Procurement → Tenders to see all individual tender records. Each tender shows:
- Schedule Classification — Core Goods, Core Services, Non-Core Goods, Non-Core Services
- Award Details — supplier, value, dates, bid summary
- MoP (Margin of Preference) — whether the 15% rule was correctly applied
- Compliance Flags — non-core violations, non-local awards, exemptions
Tenders follow this review workflow:
As a Ministry officer, tenders arrive in "Submitted" state. You can:
- Review the bid evaluation and MoP calculation
- Check whether non-core items were correctly awarded to local suppliers
- Flag issues by opening a compliance note
Procurement Summaries
Go to Procurement → Procurement Summaries. These quarterly summaries are auto-generated from approved tenders. They show total spend, local vs non-local breakdown, and category splits.
Exceptions (Ministry Exemptions)
Go to Procurement → Exceptions. When a mining company's original local supplier fails to deliver and the remaining contract is allocated to a non-local supplier, a Ministry Exemption is created under SI 2025 Regulation 4(5).
- Review the justification, verify local capacity was exhausted
- Exemptions are auto-approved on submission (with per-item delivery tracking)
- The "Approved" sub-menu shows all granted exemptions for audit
15% Margin of Preference Rule
For core goods/services, local bids get a 15% price advantage:
Evaluated Local Price = Local Bid − 15%
If Evaluated Local Price ≤ Non-local Bid, the contract MUST be awarded to the local supplier.
Example: Local bids ZMW 100, Non-local bids ZMW 90.
Evaluated Local = 100 − 15 = ZMW 85. Since 85 ≤ 90, local MUST win.
Non-Core Reservation Rule
Compliance Monitoring
How Compliance Works
Compliance is assessed quarterly for each mining company. The system evaluates multiple criteria:
- Form Submissions — Were Forms I-V submitted on time?
- Procurement Thresholds — Does local content meet the progressive target?
- Non-Core Restrictions — Were non-core goods reserved for local suppliers?
- Margin of Preference — Was the 15% MoP rule correctly applied?
- Employment Localisation — Is the Zambianisation % on target?
- SDP Budget — Was 0.05% of procurement invested in SDP?
Compliance Reports
Go to Monitoring → Compliance Reports.
Auto-Generation
Compliance reports are auto-generated quarterly by a cron job. You can also manually create one for a specific company and period.
Review Compliance
Open a report and click "Review Compliance". The system runs the full SI 2025 evaluation and populates all compliance flags and scores.
Take Action
- Compliant — Confirm and close
- Non-Compliant — Click "Issue Charge" to open the charge letter wizard. This creates a compliance case with penalties.
Print Report
Click "Print Compliance Report" to generate a PDF with the SI 2025 Compliance Report format, including score breakdown and all check results.
Compliance Workflow
Compliance Checks (Automated)
Go to Monitoring → Compliance Checks. These are records of automated daily checks run by the system. They verify form deadlines, auto-create penalties for violations, and send threshold reminders.
MoP Violations
Go to Monitoring → MoP Violations. When a tender awards core goods/services to a non-local supplier despite a qualifying local bid (under the 15% rule), a violation is automatically detected.
- Detected → Under Review → Confirmed → Penalty Issued
- Use "Confirm Violation" and "Issue Penalty" buttons to progress through the workflow
- The mining company can "Dispute" a violation
Penalty Management
Penalty Lifecycle
How Penalties Work
Penalties are linked to Compliance Cases. Each case may have one or more penalties. Go to Monitoring → Penalties to see all penalty records, or navigate from a compliance case.
| Action | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Issue Penalty | Activates the penalty and starts the clock. Emails are sent to the mining company and ministry officers. |
| Daily Accrual | While the penalty remains unpaid, the continued offence amount accrues daily (150,000 units × ZMW 0.30 = ZMW 45,000/day). |
| Mining Co. Submits PoP | The mining company uploads Proof of Payment via the portal. The penalty amount is frozen at the current total. |
| Confirm Payment | Ministry verifies the PoP. Click "Confirm Payment" to open the rectification wizard. Enter the rectification date and confirmed amount. Status → Paid. |
| Reject PoP | If PoP is invalid, click "Reject PoP". The amount unfreezes and all days that elapsed during verification are added back. Daily accrual resumes. |
Penalty Calculation
| Component | Formula | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| Base Penalty | Base Units × Unit Value | 1,000,000 × ZMW 0.30 = ZMW 300,000 |
| Daily Continued Offence | Daily Units × Unit Value × Days | 150,000 × ZMW 0.30 × N = ZMW 45,000/day |
| Total | Base + (Daily × Days Non-Compliant) | ZMW 300,000 + (ZMW 45,000 × N days) |
Compliance Cases
Go to Monitoring → Compliance Cases. A case groups multiple related penalties and tracks the overall enforcement status.
- Cases flow: Open → Under Review → Resolved → Closed
- Click "Check Resolution" to verify if all penalties are paid and auto-resolve
- Click "Print Dossier" to generate a comprehensive case dossier PDF
- The "Override Days" wizard allows adjusting continued offence days if needed
Supplier Management
Supplier Registry
Go to Supplier Development → Suppliers to view all registered suppliers. Each supplier record includes:
- Company Details — name, TPIN, PACRA number, address, contact
- Ownership Disclosure — beneficial owners with nationality percentages (determines CEEC classification)
- CEEC Category — Citizen Owned (≥51% Zambian), Citizen Empowered (≥25%), Citizen Influenced (<25%), or Non-local (0%)
- Local Company Status — auto-computed: Local = Citizen Owned or Citizen Empowered
Supplier Verification
Go to the supplier's company profile. Use verification actions to:
- Verify TPIN — confirm with Zambia Revenue Authority
- Verify PACRA — confirm company registration
- Submit for Verification → Verify / Reject / Suspend / Reinstate
Mining Company–Supplier Relationships
Go to Supplier Development → Mining Company Suppliers to see which suppliers are registered with which mining companies. This shows the active supplier base for each mine.
Supplier Audits
On-site supplier audits can be recorded in the system with findings, compliance status, and risk assessments. PDF reports can be generated for:
- Supplier Audit Pack — audit findings and compliance
- Supplier Ownership Pack — ownership verification details
Employment Oversight
Go to Employment → Employment Status to view Form III submissions from mining companies.
What to Review
- Total Workforce — headcount by category (Management, Technical, Skilled Operations, etc.)
- Zambian vs Expatriate Split — actual numbers and percentages
- Zambianisation % — overall and by category, compared to the target
- Gender and Disability Inclusion — diversity metrics
- Succession Planning — plans for replacing expatriates with Zambian nationals
Supplier Development Programmes
Go to Supplier Development → Supplier Development Programmes to view all SDP submissions.
SDP Requirements (Regulation 7)
- Every mining company must invest 0.05% of annual procurement value in developing Zambian suppliers
- SDPs must include specific activities, target suppliers, budgets, and timelines
- Progress is tracked through KPI milestones
What to Review
- Programme Details — thematic area, objectives, target suppliers
- Activities — training, mentoring, technical support with budgets and timelines
- KPI Milestones — measurable outcomes and targets
- Quarterly Reports — actual vs planned progress, challenges, expenditure
SDP Reports
Go to Supplier Development → Supplier Development Reports for periodic SDP tracking reports. The system can generate:
- Appendix 10: SDP Execution Log — activity-level tracking
- Appendix 11: SDP Impact Report — KPI-based impact assessment
Reports & Dashboard
Executive Dashboard
The LOCAS Dashboard (home page) provides a ministry-wide overview with filters for period and company. Key metrics include:
- Total procurement spend (local vs non-local)
- Local content percentage vs threshold target
- Capital flight to non-local suppliers
- Regulatory breaches count
- SDP budget vs actual investment
- Employment Zambianisation percentage
- Compliance rate across all mines
- Quarterly trend charts
Available PDF Reports
| Report | Where to Find | Description |
|---|---|---|
| SI 2025 Compliance Report | Compliance Report → Print | Full compliance score with threshold breakdown and category analysis |
| Compliance Case Dossier | Compliance Case → Print Dossier | Complete case history including penalties, communications, and timeline |
| Penalty Notice | Penalty Record → Print | Official penalty notice for the mining company |
| Plan vs Disclosure Comparison | Procurement Plan → Compare | Variance analysis between planned and actual procurement |
| Company Field Pack | Mining Company → Reports | Procurement snapshot, employment data, verified transactions for field audits |
| SDP Execution Log | SDP Programme → Print Appendix 10 | Activity-level SDP execution tracking |
| SDP Impact Report | SDP Programme → Print Appendix 11 | KPI-based impact assessment |
Notifications & Communications
Go to Configuration → Notifications to manage ministry-to-company communications.
Creating a Notification
Click "New". Enter a title, body, target audience (all companies, specific company, or all suppliers), and notification type (info, warning, action required).
Click "Publish" to send immediately, or "Schedule" to set a future publish date. Scheduled notifications are sent automatically by a cron job.
Notification Types
- Published — visible to portal users immediately
- Scheduled — will be published at the scheduled date/time
- Draft — work in progress, not visible to portal users
- Archived — no longer visible but retained for records
Automated Tasks (Cron Jobs)
LOCAS runs several automated tasks on schedule. These are managed under Settings → Technical → Scheduled Actions (requires System Administrator access).
| Task | Schedule | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| Generate Compliance Reports | Quarterly (1st of quarter, 02:00) | Auto-creates compliance reports for every mining company for the current period |
| Continued Offence Penalties | Daily (01:00) | Creates daily penalty records for open compliance cases (ZMW 45,000/day) |
| Recompute Penalty Accrual | Daily (00:15) | Refreshes days and amounts for all active penalties |
| Unanswered Charges → Cases | Daily (02:00) | Opens compliance cases when charge letters go unanswered |
| Send Deadline Reminders | Daily (08:00) | Emails approaching submission deadlines to mining companies |
| Auto-Close Expired Periods | Daily (00:30) | Closes reporting periods past their end date |
| Process Scheduled Notifications | Hourly | Publishes notifications that have reached their scheduled date |
| Auto-Generate Procurement Summaries | Quarterly (03:00) | Creates quarterly procurement summaries from approved tenders |
| Daily Compliance Check | Daily (06:00) | Checks form deadlines, auto-creates penalties for deadline violations |
| Monthly Threshold Reminder | Monthly | Warns mines about upcoming threshold changes |
| Weekly Submission Reminders | Weekly | Reminds mines of upcoming submission deadlines |
| Compute KPI Values | Daily | Recalculates KPI metrics across the system |
Frequently Asked Questions
Go to Configuration → Mine Registrations and create a new registration. Follow the registration workflow: enter company details → Generate Token & Send Email → wait for company to complete their profile → Approve.
Go to Settings → LOCAS (requires System Administrator access). Update the threshold values under "Local Content Thresholds". Changes take effect immediately for all future compliance calculations.
First check their registration status under Configuration → Mine Registrations. If approved, verify their user account under Settings → Users — ensure the account is active and has portal access. You can click "Send Password Reset" to send a fresh login link.
The recommended flow is: Compliance Report → Review Compliance → Issue Charge. This opens the charge letter wizard which creates a compliance case and associated penalty automatically. You can also manually create penalties from the Penalties menu if needed.
The penalty amount is frozen at the time of PoP submission (daily accrual stops displaying). You then review the payment proof and either:
- Confirm Payment — opens wizard to enter rectification date and confirmed amount → penalty marked Paid
- Reject PoP — amount unfreezes, all elapsed days during verification are added back, daily accrual resumes
Yes. On a compliance case, click "Override Days" to open the wizard. Enter the corrected number of days and a justification. This is useful when there are holidays, force majeure, or dispute resolution periods.
A supplier is classified as Local if their CEEC category is Citizen Owned (≥51% Zambian ownership) or Citizen Empowered (≥25% Zambian ownership). This is automatically computed from the beneficial ownership disclosure. Non-local (0% Zambian) and Citizen Influenced (<25%) are classified as non-local.
Go to Procurement → Tenders and use the search filter. Filter by "Supplier is Local = No" or use the "Non-local Awards" filter if available. You can also check the Dashboard for capital flight metrics.
Reporting periods are typically quarterly (Q1: Jan-Mar, Q2: Apr-Jun, Q3: Jul-Sep, Q4: Oct-Dec). Use the "Generate Periods" wizard to create all periods for a year at once. Periods auto-close past their end date. Compliance reports are auto-generated at the start of each quarter.
Core goods/services (First Schedule) are items that may be sourced from either local or non-local suppliers, subject to the progressive threshold (20% → 40%) and 15% Margin of Preference rule.
Non-Core goods/services (Second Schedule) are 100% reserved for local companies. Non-local suppliers cannot be awarded non-core contracts unless they receive an approved Ministry Exemption. Schedule codes: 1000 = Core Goods, 2000 = Non-Core Goods, 3000 = Core Services, 4000 = Non-Core Services.