Massive environmental disaster unfolding as poison from Chinese mine flows down major Zambian river

Dying fish. (Image: screengrab from FirstPost Africa)

25 Mar 2025

The Kafue River, a water source for more than half Zambia’s population plus industries and game parks, is dying as a toxic mine brew makes its way through the country.

The disaster began on 18 February 2025 when a tailings dam collapsed at a Chinese corporation-owned copper mine in northern Zambia. The spill released about 50 million litres of acidic and highly toxic waste into the Kafue River ecosystem.

As the poison moves down the river — a major Zambian artery and water source for about 60% of the country’s population — the contamination is killing all aquatic life, poisoning water supplies and crippling agricultural activities. Ahead of the spill is Lusaka and the Kafue National Park.

“Prior to the 18th of February this was a vibrant and alive river,” a local resident, Sean Cornelius, told Associated Press. “Fish died and birdlife disappeared almost immediately. Now everything is dead, it’s like a totally dead river. Unbelievable. Overnight this river died.”

The Kafue River is Zambia’s most important waterway, flowing for more than 1,500 kilometres through the country. It forms part of the crucial Kafue River Basin where about 12 million of Zambia’s 20 million citizens live, providing drinking water for more than five million people, including residents of Lusaka. The river also supports fishing activities and agricultural irrigation for farmers, while supplying water for industrial operations.

The dam was owned by the Chinese company Sino-Metals Leach and was designed to store mining waste. It contained concentrated acid, heavy metals and dissolved solids from mining operations.

Environmental impacts

Within hours of the spill, environmental impacts became evident as aquatic life began dying throughout the affected waterway. Witnesses living along the river reported that the previously vibrant and alive river appeared to have died overnight, with fish mortality and the disappearance of birdlife occurring almost immediately following the dam failure.

Widespread ecological damage is now being observed at least 100km downstream from the mining facility. Dead fish are washing on to riverbeds and previously thriving birdlife has disappeared. Agricultural crops along the river banks have been destroyed as mining waste seeps into the soil, potentially contaminating groundwater reservoirs.

A screen grab from FirstPost Africa video on the mine contamination.

Environmental activist Chilekwa Mumba characterised the event as “an environmental disaster of really catastrophic consequences”. Daimone Siulapwa, a political analyst and editor-in-chief of The Voice Newspaper in Zambia, called the spill an act or terrorism and demanded immediate prosecution of Sino Metal executives. He said Zambia should do a full edit of all Chinese-owned mines in the country because “What else is being covered up?”

Chinese criticised

The environmental impact of China’s large mining interests in mineral-rich parts of Africa, which include Zambia’s neighbours Congo and Zimbabwe, has often been criticised, even as the minerals are crucial to the countries’ economies.

Chinese-owned copper mines have been accused of ignoring safety, labour and other regulations in Zambia as they strive to control its supply of the critical mineral, leading to some discontent with their presence. Zambia is also burdened with more than $4-billion in debt to China and had to restructure some of its loans from China and other nations after defaulting on repayments in 2020.

A discussion about the dam collapse taking place on Reddit indicates that acid levels that high “will melt/burn anything organic”. The government and Sino Metals only reacted after local media picked up the story.

Dying fish after the collapse of the tailings dam. (Image: Screengrab from FirstPost Africa)

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema characterised the situation as a crisis and requested expert assistance in contamination and its effects on the public. The Zambian Air Force was deployed to release several hundred tons of lime in the river to neutralise the acidic contamination, aided by speedboats that applied lime along the river course.

Zambian government spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa announced that Sino-Metals Leach Zambia would be required to pay for all clean-up operations, with authorities ordering the suspension of the mine’s operations.

Zhang Peiwen, the chairperson of Sino-Metals Leach Zambia, held a meeting with Zambian government ministers following the incident. According to a transcript released by the company, Zhang offered an apology for the waste spill and acknowledged the disaster as having “rung a big alarm for Sino-Metals Leach and the mining industry”. He promised that the company would “go all out” to protect and restore the river environment as quickly as it could.

“It really just brings out the negligence that some investors actually have when it comes to environmental protection,” Mweene Himwinga, an environmental engineer who attended the meeting involving Zhang and government ministers, told Associated Press. “They don’t seem to have any concern at all, any regard at all. And I think it’s really worrying because at the end of the day, we as Zambian people, (it’s) the only land we have.” DM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REeWvTRUpMk

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Environmental impacts

Chinese criticised