Zambia is expected to overtake Australia and Indonesia in copper production in three years because of the increased investment the country had witnessed in the sector, the Zambia Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.

"If all the planned projects take off, Zambia is expected to overtake Australia and Indonesia to become the fifth-largest copper-producing country in the world by 2013," she was quoted as saying by the paper.

She said if the planned investment by some of the world's largest copper firms such as Vale of South Africa, India's Vedanta Resources Plc and First Quantum Minerals of Canada take off, the country would see an increase in copper production.

She said the decision taken by the government not to nationalize the mines and not to impose windfall tax was a positive development, even as Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and Zimbabwe study measures to boost mining revenue as commodity prices climb.

According to her, Zambia's positive investment climate had set the country apart from its neighbors and expressed optimism that copper production will double by 2015.

Canada's First Quantum Minerals has said it may spend 1.9 billion U.S. dollars on its new mining project called Trident and Kansanshi mines in Zambia after losing the Kolwezi copper project in Congo in a 2009 rights battle with the government.

Vale's joint venture with African Rainbow Minerals Ltd. will invest 1 billion dollars in Zambia's Konkola North project, while Vedanta's Konkola Copper Mines unit plans to spend about 1 billion dollars over the next three years.

Among other African countries top 10 copper producers include DR Congo, ranked 10th, while Chile, China, Peru and the United States are the largest according to 2010 data from Edinburgh-based Wood Mackenzie, Daily Mail said.

Zambia's Mines Minister Maxwell Mwale said last month that the government will not make the mistake of nationalizing mines saying the country is reaping the benefits of selling state owned Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Limited's assets, a process that started in 1996.