LUSAKA, Zambia -(Dow Jones)- Zambia has ordered an audit of the influx of foreign labour coming into the mining industry, following on from an already announced process to review the outsourcing of labor to expatriate workers, in an effort to provide more jobs to its "displaced" nationals, mines minister Wilbur Simuusa said Friday.

The audit by Zambia, Africa's leading copper producer, is intended to determine the number of expatriates working in the mines in place of skilled nationals.

"We have asked officials from the ministry of labour, and ministry of home affairs (interior), to establish the truth about these reports from the workers' unions and citizens in general that jobs meant for Zambians are being taken by expatriates," Simuusa said from South Africa by phone, echoing promises made last year by then president-elect Michael Sata in the run up to his September 2011 election victory.

Recently, former labour minister Fackson Shamenda stated that it had been difficult to determine the number of expatriates working in the mining industry and that the government was putting in place measures to control the number of expatiates being engaged in the industry.

Issuance of work permits for expatriate workers is one of the measures the government has undertaken to ensure that foreign skilled labour was hired into the country for jobs unable to be done by Zambians.

In a recent unpleasant escalation, more than 3,000 Zambian youths besieged the mines minister at one of Zambia's major mining companies in Northern Zambia, complaining about the influx of expatriate workers at the unit, despite what they claimed was their skills in various trades. The situation was diffused when Simuusa sought the youths patience while seeking dialogue with management on the matter.

The chamber of mines, a consortium of foreign mining companies operating in Zambia, could not be reached by phone.