"Zambia Ordered a Mining Company to Pay Villagers After a Toxic Waste Spill. The Firm Made Them Sign Away Their Rights First", Inside Climate News, 4 September 2025

[...] In late July, Sino-Metals paid affected individuals from around $17 to $2,000, according to local civil society workers, amounts far below the cost of the damage.

Lawyers and a resident told Inside Climate News that in order to receive payment, Sino-Metals required locals to sign “Deed of Settlement and Release” agreements.

One of the agreements [...] says that Sino-Metals was making the payment “as full and final settlement of all claims arising from any damage, injury, or inconvenience” experienced by the affected individual as a result of the spill.

[...] The Zambian government does not appear to be a party to the agreement and did not sign it, though the document references two ministries’ involvement in assessing the amount of damages.

Legal experts say Sino-Metals could use the agreements to shield itself from demands for $420 million in emergency compensation and $90 billion for long-term cleanup and restoration that have been sent to the company on behalf of the victims.

Neither Sino-Metals nor the Chinese embassy in Zambia’s capital of Lusaka responded to written requests for comment. [...].

[...] journalists, nonprofit workers and lawyers say Sino-Metals and local police have surveilled them or restricted them from visiting one of the most impacted communities, known as Kalusale.

“The level of intimidation and harassment is to the point where we as civil society can’t work freely,” [...].

A 385-page report leaked to the press last week revealed that the spill released more than 1.5 million tons of toxic waste, 30 times what Sino-Metals previously reported.

Sino-Metals had hired the South African firm Drizit Environmental to conduct an independent assessment of the damage. But after Drizit notified the Zambian government and the company of its findings, Sino-Metals fired the firm [...].