After a Chinese Mine Spill Poisoned Zambia’s Lifeline River, Locals Are Suing for $80 Billion
More than a year after one of the worst mining pollution incidents in Zambia’s history, hundreds of residents still remain uncompensated by Sino Metals, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned Nonferrous Metals Mining Group. In September 2025, 176 Zambian farmers filed a $80 billion USD lawsuit against the company after a dam collapse last February, which caused waste from the Sino Metals Leach Zambia copper mine to flow into Zambia’s Kafue River, allowing toxins to enter the river. More than half of Zambia’s 21 million people rely on the Kafue for drinking water or to irrigate crops.
According to the South African environmental company Drizit, the spill resulted in the release of 1.5 million tons of toxic material, more than 30 times the amount Sino Metals admitted at the time. In August, a travel advisory from the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs found that water samples from the area still contained 24 different heavy metals, while the US government warned that even breathing air in areas surrounding the mine posed a potential health threat.
The lawsuit alleges that Sino Metals has gone to extensive lengths to prevent Zambian locals from reporting the impacts of the spill to officials. According to the lawsuit, the company “has been detaining and arresting” activists and civil society representatives who have visited impacted residents. Last September, Sino Metals began making interim compensation payments to certain Zambian residents, subject to recipients signing legal agreements releasing the company from all liability for harm caused by the spill. According to Malisa Batakathi, one of the lawyers representing 47 impacted households, “most of them did not know the implications of what they were signing.”
The outrage confronting Sino Metals can also be understood in the context of China’s broader relationship with Zambia. China is one of the largest investors in Africa’s minerals and metals industry. While China has underscored the thousands of jobs created as a result, critics argue that Chinese infrastructure loans have trapped many African countries in unmanageable debt. Between 2000 and 2023, 49 African countries are believed to have signed $182.3 billion USD in loans with Chinese lenders.
Over the last two decades, Chinese investments in Zambia have been an intense topic of debate amidst allegations of human rights abuses and safety negligence by Chinese-owned companies. Following a factory explosion in 2005, which killed 50 Zambian miners, riots in 2006 saw six workers shot by Chinese managers. In 2012, the protests of 1,200 Zambians at Collum Coal Mine over poor working conditions resulted in the death of a Chinese mine manager at the hands of workers. These incidents have contributed to a “reputation deficit” surrounding Chinese investments, with Zambians increasingly favouring alternative investors from other countries.
However, China is not a unique actor among foreign investors. In March of 2025, Canadian mining company Quantum Minerals (FQM) faced public backlash for forcing Zambians to leave their villages for the expansion of the Kasanshi and Sentinel mines. Residents now seeking legal action claim they were resettled to unsuitable areas that have led them to severe hardship and poverty.
These cases echo the country’s long-enduring struggle with extractivism and community harm. In 2015, more than 2,000 farmers took legal action against UK-based Vedanta Resources and its Zambian subsidiary for alleged damage to waterways from their copper mining emissions. The case was settled without any admission of liability. In November 2025, a subsidiary of British-based mining company Anglo American faced a class action for “poisoning generations of local people” from a mine operating in Kabwe between 1925 and 1974. The appeal seeks to overturn the court’s 2023 dismissal of the case.
Zambia’s government has faced heavy backlash for facilitating these mining operations and allegedly downplaying the spill. In August, the government dismissed US claims of dangerous pollution and safety concerns, asserting that “PH levels have returned to normal” in the Kafue River. Critics have argued that the government’s economic dependence on foreign investors is undermining its willingness to regulate mining companies. China currently stands as the country’s largest official creditor, owed $5.7 billion USD by Zambia. Meanwhile, copper makes up 70 per cent of Zambia’s exports and accounts for 15 per cent of its national GDP.
In August, government spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa said there was no need for the local and international community to press the ‘panic button’. Since then, Zambia’s government has maintained that there are no serious risks to public health at hand. According to research by Copperbelt University, however, the damage persists and could persist for 10 years if remediation efforts are not put in place.
Today, experts describe Kabwe as one of the most lead-polluted places in the world. While the long-term impacts of the Kafue River’s pollution are yet to be seen, an environmental firm warned Zambia’s government that, without immediate intervention, “severe and long-lasting” consequences will be faced by future generations.
Sino Metals currently denies any liability for the toxic spill, claiming the incident was caused by natural causes “beyond its control” rather than negligence. The $80 billion USD being sought by claimants is extremely ambitious, an amount some deem unimaginable for Sino Metals to pay. The largest payment for environmental damage ever granted by a mining company was a $23 billion settlement reached between the Government of Brazil and BHP Group, an Australian mining corporation.
Historically, local lawsuits by Zambians against large corporations have had limited success. In the case of Anglo American, the case was dismissed on account of being “unmanageable” since every one of the 140,000 plaintiffs would have to prove they suffered from illness caused by lead poisoning. Notable legal strides have nonetheless been made in recent years. Vedanta Resources, for instance, though never formally admitting liability, agreed to compensate Zambian locals following a landmark 2019 UK Supreme Court ruling that allowed the case to be heard in English courts. As the Sino Metals case moves forward, the lawsuit’s outcomes will test whether the country can break from previous cycles of unremedied local grievances and hold corporations accountable.
With copper central to the country’s economy and foreign investment deeply entrenched, the lawsuit has become a focal point in a wider debate over how Zambia balances economic dependence with environmental and public health protections, particularly in its increasingly scrutinized partnership with China.
Edited by Aubrey Nan
Featured Image: “Luansha Copper Mines ” by Jake Lyell is licensed under Public Domain.
