Toxic Spill at China-Owned Zambian Mine 30 Times Worse Than Estimated

According to an independent assessment of the disaster, the partial collapse of a waste dam in the Chinese state’s copper mine in Zambia may be 30 times more toxic mud to the environment than previously reported.

At least 1.5 million tons of toxic substances escaped when a reservoir failed in Sino-Metals Leach Zambia Ltd. Maden, Mine close to the northern city of Kitwe, finds findings from the hired company to evaluate environmental damage. This would fill more than 400 Olympic pools and the incident would be among the global worst disasters of the mining industry.

The government and the company previously poured 50,000 tons of February disaster. The video evidence of social media and field data shows that this is “very wrong ,, Drizit Zambia Ltd.-Hired by Sino-Metals to carry out environmental control of the winner-in a June 3 letter confirmed by Bloomberg and confirmed by the company.

Drizit described the incident as a “large -scale environmental disaster olan that threatens drinking water, fishing stocks and agricultural areas in the region. Sino-Metals, who ended the contract with Drizitis, questioned the methodology used by the company to evaluate the magnitude of the spill.

Disaster risks undermines the plan of Hicilema’s triple copper output plan in the coming years. In 2023, SML’s parent, China’s non -leather mining Corp.

The incident also complicates the ties of Lusaka with Beijing at a time when Hicilema’s administration works to conclude the restructuring agreements with Chinese lenders for a debt of approximately $ 5.6 billion.

Last week, the US Embassy marked concerns about the scale of the disaster, referring to the new information that its authorities have ordered immediately withdraw from Kitwe and its surrounding areas and reveals the scope of contamination.

In an e-mail to the personnel, which was seen by Bloomberg on August 6 and confirmed by the US government, the US Ambassador to Zambia Michael Gonzales said that the disaster looks like the sixth worst of history and that toxic substances such as arsenic, cyanide and uranum will continue to create threats to people and animals.

The US Embassy refrained from commenting.

“Without intervention immediately, the results of the next generation Zambians will be severe and long -lasting,” he said.

The company refused to comment beyond verifying the letter by talking about legal reasons. Drizit’s parent company in South Africa has been in the industry to reduce environmental risk since 1975.

Sino-Metals said that he terminated his contract with Drizit due to unbearable contract violations and that Drizit had time to correct them, but failed.

The company spokesman said, “The dam where the piles escaped is still there and the amount of waste that escapes can be determined by the volume of the dam,” he said. “However, if Drizit could calculate the amount of shedding using social media images, this is a very interesting methodology.”

Zambia’s Green Economy and Environment Minister Mike Mposha immediately refused to comment.

The Zambia government reduced concerns about the incident last week and said there was no reason for panic and that the water quality in the affected areas was restored. At the weekend, senior officials drank tap water from Kitwe to prove that it was safe.

The government, death or confirmed heavy metal poisoning cases were not reported.

When the disaster violated a dam wall after heavy rains on February 18, it appeared when a sulfuric acid used to remove copper to the nearby Mwambashi River.

The preliminary assessments showed that the river measures a lower pH as 1, Zambia’s Minister of Water and Sanitation Collins Nzovu said to MPs on February 21st.

The water from Mwambashi flows into the Kafue River passing through one of the largest national parks in Africa. Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, is relying on the river for water supply.

Immediately after the incident, the government began to throw hundreds of tons of lime into the rivers to neutralize the acid that has been erased miles.

Drizit’s letter, although acidity has returned to normal, said that heavy metals pose a permanent threat, especially 800 people living near the Serpinti region.

The South African -based company said that their relationship with SML was difficult.

“Since the beginning, they have tried to actively disrupt the evaluation process and tried to influence the consequences of our findings,” he said. “SML has accused us of violating the contract, and since then it ended the agreement only days before the result, apparently to prevent our report from reaching the appropriate authorities.”

With the help of Tagaga myth.

This article was created from an automatic news agency feeding without changing the text.