"China Pushes to Silence Victims of African Mining Disaster", 28 Oct 2025

A poisonous river of a stinking yellow liquid rushed downhill, inundating homes and fields [...] In August, months after the Feb. 18 disaster, officials from Sino Metals, a unit of the state-owned China Nonferrous Mining Corp., showed up at Musole’s half-acre farm, which the Zambian government says is too toxic to sustain crops for at least three years.

They were there to make things right, she recalled them saying. Their offer was $150, but it came with a catch. To get the money, she would have to agree never to talk about the spill, take legal action against Sino Metals or even reveal the contents of the nondisclosure agreement itself, according to documents presented to other spill victims, which were reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Local environment activists said those terms were the same for all victims.

The U.S. Embassy in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, said the size of the spill made it the sixth-worst mine-tailings dam accident ever, by volume. Toxic sludge flowed into the Kafue River, leaving dead fish along a 70-mile stretch and poisoning farm fields. 

Dozens of students at Copperbelt University in Kitwe were hospitalized after drinking contaminated water in February and March, according to a student group. The university closed for two weeks in February, citing the risk that contaminated water posed to students. [...]

Sino Metals said 50,000 metric tons of waste had reached the river. The company deployed boats and enlisted the Zambia Air Force to dump hundreds of tons of lime into the valley in an attempt to neutralize the contamination. [...]

Local municipal officials and environmental groups said Sino Metals has hired a security unit that has tried to keep local people from talking to the news media or environmental activists.