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Will Zambian mine disaster spill over to destroy relations with China?
SCMP ^ | March 23, 2025 | Jevans Nyabiage

Posted on 04/16/2025 4:36:46 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

A 50-million-litre acid spill from a Chinese-owned copper mine in Zambia is now threatening to kill ties with Beijing, experts say.

A massive acid spill from a Chinese-owned copper mine in Zambia, which has caused severe environmental damage along a major river, could also cause severe diplomatic damage between the two countries, according to observers.

On February 18, a tailings dam containing acid waste from the Sino-Metals Leach Zambia copper mine – which is majority-owned by China Nonferrous Metals Industry Group – collapsed, sending 50 million litres of concentrated acid waste into a stream that connects to the Kafue River.

The river is a vital 1,576km (979-mile) waterway which is relied on by about 12 million people and provides drinking water to around five million – including residents in capital Lusaka. The spill has also been devastating for wildlife, with reports of dead fish found floating up to 100km from the spill site.

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema appealed for help from experts, calling the disaster "a crisis that threatens people and wildlife along the Kafue".

For decades, Lusaka has maintained strong political and economic ties with Beijing, with frequent high-level visits on either side. But now, observers say the acid spill will test the friendship to the extreme, and could potentially set relations back, though a complete severing of ties is unlikely.

Emmanuel Matambo, a research director at the University of Johannesburg's Centre for Africa-China Studies, said the environmental catastrophe was certain to harm ties.

(Excerpt) Read more at scmp.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: africa; ccp; china; copper; copperbelt; jevansnyabiage; kafueriver; sulfuricacid; zambia
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To: know.your.why

Best guess is sulphuric. The Zambians have been dumping tons of lime into the water. They really need to dump that way downstream, so the moving acid doesn’t kill everything past that point.


21 posted on 04/16/2025 5:36:18 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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22 posted on 04/16/2025 5:44:40 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: SunkenCiv

And it isn’t some remote river in the wilderness where a few sport fishermen will be inconvenienced for one season, this river is the livelihood of large numbers of rural people, and China took a big ol toxic chemical dump in it.


23 posted on 04/16/2025 5:46:52 PM PDT by SpaceBar
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To: SunkenCiv

Didn’t the bidung admin do something similar here in the US? Colorado? Some river?


24 posted on 04/16/2025 5:49:57 PM PDT by US_MilitaryRules (#PureBlood )
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To: SunkenCiv

Commies wreck the environment. Who knew? [/S]


25 posted on 04/16/2025 5:53:45 PM PDT by rfp1234 (E Porcibus Unum)
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To: 3rdTruths

Given the quality of Chinese built dams in their own country?


26 posted on 04/16/2025 6:06:07 PM PDT by alternatives?
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To: SunkenCiv

China is polluted itself. It doesn’t care about the environment.


27 posted on 04/16/2025 6:37:35 PM PDT by metmom (He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus)
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To: US_MilitaryRules

It was Obama. And there was a steady drumming of criticism of this in the media. /sarc

Gold King Mine, there are nearly 80 topics in the keyword, not bad.


28 posted on 04/16/2025 7:18:34 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Who does China think they are? The EPA?
The EPA deliberately opened a mine that was sealed and spilled the contaminated water into a nearby river changing the color to yellow.


29 posted on 04/16/2025 11:37:12 PM PDT by minnesota_bound (Need more money to buy everything now)
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To: know.your.why

As long as it wasn’t brown they should be okay.


30 posted on 04/16/2025 11:44:50 PM PDT by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant - Never Fearful)
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To: 21twelve

I think Janice Joplin was doing the brown acid that weekend.


31 posted on 04/17/2025 4:03:20 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Import The Third World,Become The Third World)
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To: SunkenCiv

At least they’re free of they oppressive European colonialists.


32 posted on 04/17/2025 4:07:54 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack
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To: SunkenCiv

Lots of nations have taken a crack at Africa.

Maybe China will have better luck than most.


33 posted on 04/17/2025 4:08:07 AM PDT by Jim Noble (Assez de mensonges et de phrases)
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