On February 18, 2025, a
copper mine tailings dam in Zambia collapsed, releasing 50 million liters
(about 13 million gallons) of acidic wastewater into the Kafue River. About 60%
of the country’s 20 million people live in the Kafue River basin and rely on
the river for agriculture, industry, and fishing. Zambian President Hakainde
Hichilema called the incident a crisis, warning that it threatened both
wildlife and people's livelihoods. One nearby city shut down its water supply.
The river provides drinking water for five million people. The Zambian
government air-dropped hundreds of tons of lime into the river and via
speedboat to neutralize the acid. Masses of dead fish washed up on river shores
as far as 70 miles downstream. Acidic mine waters are well known to kill
aquatic life.
The mine is owned by
Sino-Metals Leach Zambia, a firm majority-owned by the Chinese state-run China
Nonferrous Metals Industry Group. The spill devastated life in the river. Sino
Metals had been ordered to compensate all affected farmers and consumers. A
spokesman for Sino-Metals Leach Zambia said the company "will go all
out to restore the affected environment as quickly as possible." The
Zambian government ordered the mining company to cease operations at three of
its dams following the breach, in order to repair any embankment breaches.
Zambia is a participant in
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and has become indebted to China. The
government recently announced that it expects to receive $5 billion in mining
investments from Chinese firms by 2031. According to Wikipedia:
“The Copperbelt Province in northern Zambia hosts
numerous mining operations, with Chinese companies maintaining a dominant
presence in the copper extraction industry. Zambia was ranked within the top
ten copper producers worldwide. Critics have accused Chinese corporation-owned
copper mines of disregarding safety, labour, and environmental regulations in
their pursuit to control Zambia's copper supply. Zambia held significant
economic ties to China, including debts of over US$4 billion to China that required
restructuring after Zambia defaulted on repayments in 2020.”
Some of the effects of the
highly toxic spill include fish kills, crop losses along the river,
disappearance of riverine birds, possible groundwater contamination near the
river, poisoned soil no longer suitable for agriculture, water contamination,
and possible airborne contamination. Wikipedia reports:
On 6 August 2025, the US Embassy ordered all American
government personnel to leave areas affected by the disaster in February,
citing continuing contamination and the possible presence of airborne hazards.
It was announced that
Sino-Metals Leach Zambia would pay for all cleanup operations, with authorities
ordering the suspension of operations at the responsible mine.
Wikipedia reports:
“In September 2025, a group composed of 176 farmers
filed a lawsuit against multiple Chinese-linked mining firms for $80 billion
over agricultural damages caused by the spill.”
One engineer “expressed
frustration about the negligence many foreign investors had towards
environmental conservation.”
The company's response to the
spill included an apology, an acknowledgement that the disaster threatened the
mining industry and the company in particular, and a promise that the company
would protect and restore the river environment as quickly as they could. The
company also required a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for compensation claims.
At one point later, the
government said the water quality was returning to normal, but some think they
were just trying to convince people not to be alarmed.
Now, eight months later, the
cleanup process is expected to be ongoing for many years. There is also
widespread dissatisfaction with the cleanup, the timeline for restoration,
allegations of mistreatment by the company and by police cooperating with them,
including intimidation of residents and arrest of journalists and environmental
activists.
According to Newsweek, citing
a Wall Street Journal article:
“Sino-Metals has begun building a new wall to replace
the breached dam and has reportedly been using bulldozers to remove dried
tailings from riverbanks and other affected areas, in what appears to be an
effort to erase evidence that could be used in an eventual investigation, the
Journal wrote.
Many residents see the
payouts as inadequate since their ability to grow food or fish has been
severely limited and could last for years. They have also complained about the
NDA’s and the insistence that they do not document anything or talk to
reporters. It is perhaps concerning that local police seem to be cooperating
with Chinese mining officials more than with the public, especially as many
people are reporting dissatisfaction with the deals they are offered and their
legally binding silence.
“Brigadier Siachitema, an attorney representing those
affected by the mine told the WSJ that the Sino Metals officials were “very
inhumane,” with those affected by the dam collapse “not even shown the amount
they would receive until after they signed the document.”
“According to nondisclosure agreements later reviewed by
the WSJ, affected villagers were asked to accept payment only if they agreed
not to speak publicly about the spill or the settlements.”
Apparently, the company
blamed the dam collapse on vandalism and heavy rainfall, but I am unsure if
that has been determined through an independent investigation.
The Chinese company is now
being accused of a cover-up to downplay the severity and extent of the damage.
According to AP in a PBS report:
“An environmental cleanup company says that it was
contracted by Sino-Metals Leach Zambia to investigate the accident. It said its
two-month investigation found that the disaster resulted in the release of 1.5
million tons of toxic material — at least 30 times more than Sino-Metals
admitted at the time.”
“The South Africa-based environmental company Drizit
said it submitted preliminary reports to Sino-Metals “indicating the severity
of the pollution,” but Sino-Metals then terminated its contract one day before
the final report was due.”
“Sino-Metals said in a statement to The Associated Press
that it terminated the contract because of “contractual breaches” by Drizit and
the Zambian government was looking for a new company to conduct a fresh
investigation. Sino-Metals disputed the accuracy of Drizit’s findings.”
“Drizit said in a statement that its investigators took
more than 3,500 samples for analysis and they showed dangerous levels of
cyanide, arsenic, copper, zinc, lead, chromium, cadmium and other pollutants
“posing significant long-term health risks, including organ damage, birth
defects, and cancer.”
“It said 900,000 cubic metres of toxic substances were
still present in the environment and a proper cleanup operation was required to
ensure people aren’t at risk for decades. Drizit’s full report has not been
released publicly.”
Chinese lawyer and
environmental activist Jingjing Zhang has opposed Chinese companies that
pollute for decades. She thinks that China uses a hazardous development model:
‘Pollute now, get rich and attempt to clean up later.’
“The government’s close relationship and financial
dependence on China poses challenges to holding Chinese-owned mining companies
fully accountable,” she told ADF, explaining that cleaning up and
restoring the environment around the Sino-Metals Leach Zambia spill could take
many years. “Lax oversight and regulation have been long-standing issues in
Zambia’s mining sector.”
Her goal is to force the
Chinese mining companies to be more responsible and accountable.
Zambians are mad and cite the
company’s lack of transparency. The massive loans from the BRI also exert
leverage to put economic concerns over environmental, health, and social
concerns. Zambia’s government likely does not want to jeopardize its debt
restructuring with China. According to Bloomberg News’ Ondiro Oganga:
“We’ve seen fatalities at mining sites. We’ve seen
conflict between mining companies and communities. We are now seeing
environmental disasters coupled with corruption and fraudulent activities.
China needs to go back to the drawing board and rethink how it’s going to do
business, particularly mining on the African continent.”
References:
China
tries to cover up toxic mining disaster: WSJ. Micah McCartney. Newsweek.
October 29. 2025. China tries to cover up toxic mining
disaster: WSJ
Map
Shows China-Owned Mine Where Acid Spill Caused ‘Catastrophic’ Pollution. Micah
McCartney. Newsweek. March 19, 2025. Map
Shows China-Owned Mine Where Acid Spill Caused ‘Catastrophic’ Pollution -
Newsweek
A
Chinese mining company is accused of covering up the extent of a major toxic
spill in Zambia. Zambia Mine Spill Explainer. Jacob Zimba and Gerald Imray.
Associated Press. PBS News. September 1, 2025. A
Chinese mining company is accused of covering up the extent of a major toxic
spill in Zambia | PBS News
2025
Sino-Metals Leach Zambia dam disaster. Wikipedia. 2025
Sino-Metals Leach Zambia dam disaster - Wikipedia
China’s
BRI Revealed as Economic, Environmental Threat. Africa Defense Forum. October
21, 2025. China’s
BRI Revealed as Economic, Environmental Threat - Africa Defense Forum
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