The spill happened on Feb. 18 when a tailings dam that holds acidic waste from a copper mine in the north of the country collapsed, according to investigators from the Engineering Institution of Zambia.

The collapse allowed some 50 million liters of waste containing concentrated acid, dissolved solids and heavy metals to flow into a stream that links to the Kafue River, Zambia’s most important waterway, the engineering institution said.

“It is an environmental disaster really of catastrophic consequences,” said Chilekwa Mumba, an environmental activist who works in Zambia’s Copperbelt Province.

  • floofloof@lemmy.ca
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    23 hours ago

    “This disaster has rung a big alarm for Sino-Metals Leach and the mining industry,” he said. He said it “will go all out to restore the affected environment as quickly as possible.”

    Doubt.