Message Mar 27 Mar 2012 14:24

Zambian Vice President Meets Mopani Over Leaching Suspension

Zambian Vice President Meets Mopani Over Leaching Suspension-Agency
03/27/2012 | 07:14am
Zambia's vice president is meeting representatives of Mopani Copper Mine and the country's environmental watchdog Tuesday to discuss the suspension of Mufulira West heap leaching over alleged pollution, a spokesman for the ZEMA environmental agency said.

Mopani Copper Mines, a unit of leading global commodity trader Glencore International PLC (>> Glencore International Plc), said the suspension of operations imposed by the Zambia Environmental Management Authority is costing the company more than $100,000 a day.

When ZEMA announced the suspension it said it had inspected the site and said the process, which involves metals being leached from a heap of crushed ore by applying acid to it, couldn't be resumed until the company had completed eight recommended measures to reduce its effect on the surrounding area.

Glencore spokesman, Simon Buerk told Dow Jones Newswires in an emailed statement from Switzerland Monday that there was no update on the matter.

"We have been called by the Vice President (Guy Scott) over the matter and we hope this will be resolved so that we are not seen to be affecting the company's planned investments," ZEMA acting spokesman Alex Musesho told Dow Jones by phone Tuesday.

Scott had promised to convene a meeting and find an amicable solution after Mopani Copper Mine management complained that they had been affected by ZEMA's decision to shut down the project.

In a statement March 1, ZEMA said: "According to health records obtained from clinics in Butondo (a town near the mine), statistics show an increase in the number of cases for pulmonary, throat, nose and ear ailments which were captured between October and December 2011 as compared with the 2008 data for the same months of October, November and December," the statement said.

Among the demands in the suspension order from the ZEMA were that Mopani erect acid mist barriers to minimise the "down-wind effects of acid mist and vapour" get "effective and efficient acid mist/vapor equipment, which takes into consideration measurements for meteorological parameters such as wind speed and direction, humidity, temperature, etc. to get more reliable and accurate data."

At the time, Glencore said: "Mopani's heap leach project has been operating since 2007. It has been properly and closely monitored by the relevant authorities and has always been given a clean bill of health, meeting or exceeding the terms of its license."

Mopani Copper Mines is one of Zambia's largest copper and cobalt producers with a labor force of more than 10,000. It recently invested $114 million in resolving the sulfur dioxide emissions Mufulira in northern Zambia and, expected to start capturing 97% of the acid when it is finished and commissioned by 2013.

-By Geoffrey Sinkamba, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; jeff.kapembwa@gmail.com
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