cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/56932457

• A recent study on the ecological impacts of a tailings dam failure in Zambia’s Copperbelt Province in 2025 finds that highly toxic substances such as arsenic, lead and zinc were released into the Kafue River system.
• As a result of the spill at Chinese copper company Sino-Metals Leach Zambia’s mine, millions of liters of acidic mining waste were released into waterways connected to the river.
• The assessment links the incident to the death of wildlife and the contamination of soils and water sources in the region.
• Sino-Metals Leach Zambia says it has initiated cleanup measures, but communities still reside on contaminated land, according to civil society organizations.

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The dam, which is used to store mining waste and is owned by Chinese copper company Sino-Metals Leach Zambia, failed on Feb. 18, 2025, in the town of Chambishi in north-central Zambia. It released millions of liters of acidic mining waste into waterways connected to the Kafue River. Stretching 1,576 kilometers (979 miles), the Kafue is the longest river lying entirely within Zambia and a lifeline for millions of people in the country.

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Waste materials stored in tailings dams, such as the one owned by Sino-Metals, can contain metals such as zinc, lead, chromium, cadmium and arsenic. Rather than breaking down over time, many of these materials bind to sediments or accumulate in living organisms where they can persist. Global experience shows that communities dependent on a polluted water source for drinking water, fishing, livestock and agriculture could be exposed to health risks for years.

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Zambia is Africa’s second and the world’s ninth-largest producer of copper. Its vast mineral resources have attracted the attention of several industrialized nations looking to access minerals critical to their energy and economic security. In response to the rising demand for these metals, Zambia is aiming to more than triple its copper production by 2031.

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Kalusale, a village immediately adjacent to the Sino-Metals mine, has been heavily impacted by the spill. According to nonprofit FIAN Zambia, residents in Kalusale continue to live on contaminated land while toxins in the water sources and farmland have undermined their livelihoods. Some families have left their homes and are renting accommodation elsewhere, Vladimir Chilinya, FIAN Zambia’s country coordinator, told Mongabay.

In April this year, a FIAN team attended a meeting with community members in Chambishi, upstream from Kalusale.

“People continued cultivating the crops on land that is contaminated with acid, which is a risk to their health as well as to the health of people who will consume them,” Chilinya said.

The Copperbelt University study notes that some people were reported to have consumed water, vegetables or fish contaminated in the incident. “Thus, the mining spillage did not only impact on the aquatic ecosystem and the life in it, but potentially devastated the very wellbeing fabric of riparian [riverbank] communities,” the authors write.

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