"A mine polluted a Zambian river in 2025: Residents continue to live with the impacts" - Mongabay, 13 August 2026

"One and a half years after the collapse of a large tailings dam in Zambia's Copperbelt Province, the environmental and human impacts of the toxic spill continue to affect residents." The dam, owned by Chinese copper company Sino-Metals Leach Zambia, failed on 18 February 2025 in the town of Chambishi, releasing "millions of liters of acidic mining waste into waterways connected to the Kafue River" - Zambia's longest river and a lifeline for millions. A study by Copperbelt University published in May 2026, the first independent scientific assessment of the incident, found "severely compromised water quality, high concentrations of heavy metals in water, fish, sediments and pastures, and evidence that toxic substances had entered the food chain." The researchers linked the pollution to "large-scale fish mortality, contamination of pastures used for livestock grazing and damage to crops and vegetable gardens that form the basis of local livelihoods."

Controversy has emerged over the scale of the contamination and the adequacy of the response. Sino-Metals sparked controversy when it "canceled a contract with the South African company hired to assess the incident's environmental impacts, Drizit Environmental, days before the assessment was due to conclude in June 2025." According to Drizit's unpublished draft assessment seen by Mongabay, "the scale of contamination was substantially greater than that communicated by the company": while Sino-Metals reported releasing around 50 million liters of toxic waste, Drizit estimated "at least 1.5 million tonnes of contaminated effluent." In Kalusale, the village immediately adjacent to the mine, residents "continue to live on contaminated land while toxins in the water sources and farmland have undermined their livelihoods." "People continued cultivating the crops on land that is contaminated with acid, which is a risk to their health," said Vladimir Chilinya, FIAN Zambia's country coordinator. As of August 2026, no households have been relocated despite a government announcement in January 2026 that resettlement would proceed. In June, Sino-Metals was still providing affected households with only 40 liters of drinking water a week - "insufficient for families of six or more," FIAN said.

Late last year, 176 community members filed a constitutional petition in the Lusaka High Court seeking a comprehensive cleanup, compensation for lost livelihoods and the provision of water and food supplies. Sino-Metals attempted to have the case thrown out but failed, and the Supreme Court hearing for the company's appeal is scheduled for 18 August. "We need the state to provide direction on where we are with the remedial measures, to what extent the company is complying, and to ensure affected people understand the long-term consequences," Chilinya said. Neither ZEMA nor the Zambian Ministry of Green Economy and Environment responded to Mongabay's request for comment. Sino-Metals Leach did not respond at the time of publication.