Zambia watchdog probes Konkola Copper Mines over river pollu
Lusaka (Platts)--17Jan2011/831 am EST/1331 GMT
The Environmental Council of Zambia is investigating whether Konkola Copper Mines was responsible for polluting the Kafue River, a source of domestic water on the Copper Belt, the ECZ said in a statement Saturday.
ECZ executive director Paul Banda said that, without pre-empting the investigations, this was not the first time KCM had polluted the river and that the situation was worrying.
KCM said in a statement it was ready to cooperate with the ECZ' investigations and was already working with in close liaison with it.
The company said a power outage on January 10 led to the failure of the pumps at its Mutimpa Tailings disposal site in Chingola. Two plants, the concentrator and the Tailings Leach Plant were immediately stopped and the matter was reported to the ECZ, the Mines Safety Department and local water utility company.
In November 2010, the company was fined $5 million by a magistrates court after admitting that it was responsible for polluting the Kafue River. In 2007, the company was ordered to shut down its Tailings Leach Plant after it polluted the Kafue River.
The ECZ said it was important for KCM's management to invest in modern technology to prevent pollution.
A unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources, KCM recently announced an injection of $1billion into new projects and existing facilities which would include pollution control measures at the Tailings Leach Plant, to lift its copper production to 400,000 mt by 2012.
--James Mwambazi, newsdesk@platts.com
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