"In Congo’s Cobalt Belt, a Chinese Miner’s Waste Leaves Villages Poisoned and Furious", China Global South Project, 5 December 2025

[...] when it rains, red water can be seen gushing out from four drainage points under the enclosure.

Residents and civil society groups interviewed by AFP accused CDM of taking advantage of rainy periods to discharge mining wastewater.

a member of the investigative commission and provincial coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), said the Chinese company "was misled by the weather and opened the valves before the rains fell" that would have otherwise hidden the flow.

CDM, however, claimed that the November flood was caused by the accidental rupture of a retention basin.

[...] a vendor of fruits and vegetables at the local market, showed her "damaged" hands and feet that she blamed on the exposure to "acidic" water.

The November flood, which inundated the market, also soaked her supply of dried fish, leaving it inedible.

A CDM representative denied any negligence on the company's part when contacted by AFP, asserting that "the materials are processed on site" and that "there could not have been any prior pollution" before November.