Mining's toxic timebomb: dams full of poisonous waste are dotted around the world. What happens when they burst?

"Gushing through the fragile wall built to hold back mining waste in Zambia's copper belt in February 2025, more than 50m cubic litres of acid and heavy metals poured into the Chambishi stream a tributary of the Kafue River, the country's longest waterway. Thousands of lifeless fish rose to the surface as a plume of acid floated downriver, leaving dead crocodiles and other wildlife in its wake."

"It looked like diesel mixed with oil. We had already planted our crops, but they died. When you now turn up the soil to till it for planting, it has become yellowish and has a pungent smell, says Mary Milimo, a 65-year-old smallholder close to where the Mwambashi River joins the Kafue."

"The spill shut down drinking water supplies for Kitwe, Zambia's third-largest city, home to half a million people. Signs of pollution were detected 60 miles downstream from the collapse. Helicopters chased the spill downriver, dropping lime into the water in an attempt to neutralise its corrosive potency."

In February 2025, a tailings dam at the Sino-Metals Leach copper mine in Zambia's copper belt catastrophically failed, releasing more than 50 million cubic liters of acid and heavy metals into the Chambishi stream, a tributary of the Kafue River. The toxic spill killed thousands of fish, crocodiles, and other wildlife, and contaminated water supplies for Kitwe, Zambia's third-largest city with 500,000 residents. The pollution spread 60 miles downstream, affecting rare wildlife species including the Kafue lechwe antelope and wattled crane. Local farmers experienced crop failures and soil contamination, with yellowed, greasy soil that becomes slippery when wet. The environmental emergency remains ongoing, with communities dependent on the Kafue River facing severe water and food security challenges.

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