CONSERVATION Advocate Zambia (CAZ) Founder Mehluli Malisa Batakathi has expressed disappointment with government’s handling of the Sino Metals case, arguing that the decision sets a “very bad precedence” for mining companies. Batakathi adds that if Zambia is to achieve responsible mining, government should have handled the matter better instead of allowing operations at Sino Metals to resume. On February 18, 2025, a tailings dam at Sino-Metals Leach Zambia Limited, a Chinese state-owned copper mining enterprise operating in Chambishi on the Copperbelt, collapsed and released about 50 million litres (13 million US gallons) of acidic, highly toxic effluent into the Mwambashi River, a tributary of the Kafue River. The spill contaminated water supplies, aquatic life, and farmland along the river, which...
