Research commissioned by the Andrew Lees Trust (ALT UK) has determined that the QMM mine breached its permitted limits...Subsequent studies demonstrated that waters downstream of the mine are contaminated with elevated levels of uranium and lead, directly linked to the mine’s extraction process, and well in excess of WHO safe drinking water guidelines. Since approximately 15,000 people use the lakes and waterways around the mine to fish, gather food products and drinking water, the contamination represents a serious health risk to local populations. The company denies responsibility for the elevated uranium and lead, claiming it is all naturally occurring...

Local people complain that they have more health issues since the QMM mine operations began, and they also complain of lack of consultation and transparency around the monitoring of QMM’s activity. A number of issues – most specifically the need for QMM to manage its wastewaters and provide safe drinking water to locally affected communities - remain unresolved...

A key finding of the Swanson...study was the presence of elevated levels of uranium in rivers and lakes adjacent to the mine - 50 times the WHO guidelines for safe drinking water in some places and where local people fish and draw their drinking water. The finding raised serious concerns about exposure to uranium as a toxic contaminant in the water. Since local people draw their drinking water from natural sources around the mine, Swanson called for the immediate provision of safe drinking water for mine affected communities, in line with WHO guidelines...

Rio Tinto denies the QMM mine is responsible for elevated levels of uranium in waters around Mandena where the mine is situated. It claims the uranium is all naturally occurring...However, as Swanson explains, “while uranium naturally occurs in the ore, once the ore is dug up and processed, uranium is released into the water in larger quantities than if it was left in place on the ground.”...

Rio Tinto has subsequently conceded that “the mining method may enhance the transfer of uranium and other materials in the suspended solids to the water column as a consequence of churning the sand”...According to the company’s explanations, wastewater from the mine is managed by releasing it into a series of “flow through holding ponds where its elevated solids levels are naturally reduced through retention time and particle settling”...Rio Tinto claims that no further treatment is required to remove the suspended solids and, once these have settled, the water is discharged back into the natural environment...

However, the explanations of the wastewater management process are not in themselves evidence that the “settling time” provided by the holding pond system prior to release of water from the mining site is successfully addressing contamination issues. Nor can Rio Tinto/QMM provide evidence that levels of uranium and heavy metals in waters leaving the QMM site into adjacent wetlands and streams are “under permitted limits” (ibid). The company admits that its “process water may have higher concentrations of minerals and metals than deemed safe by drinking water standards”...