UPDATE: Zambia Suspends Mopani Operations Due To Acid Mists
March 05 2012 - 10:42AM
Dow Jones News
Zambia's environment watchdog has ordered Mopani Copper Mine, a
unit of leading global commodity trader Glencore International PLC
(GLEN.LN), to suspend heap leaching, according to a statement seen
by Dow Jones Newswires Monday.
The process involves metals being leached from a heap of crushed
ore by applying acid to it.
The Zambia Environmental Management Authority said it had
inspected the site and that the operation couldn't be resumed until
the company had completed eight recommended measures to reduce its
effect on the surrounding area.
ZEMA said local residents in Butondo had complained that acid
mist from the leaching process causes health problems and they were
seeking compensation from Mopani.
The Butondo community complains of noise from the crusher,
cracking of houses, vibrations, and dust, the statement said.
"According to health records obtained from Clinics in Butondo,
statistics show an increase in the number of cases for pulmonary,
throat, nose and ear ailments which were captured between October
and December 2011 as compared with the 2008 data for the same
months of October, November and December," the statement said.
A Glencore spokesman said in a statement that Glencore was
"surprised" by the suspension of a part of its Mopani mine,
particularly since the Zambian government had renewed the mine's
license only two weeks ago following an inspection and clean bill
of health in early February.
"Mopani's heap leach project has been operating since 2007. It
has been properly and closely monitored by the relevant authorities
and has always been given a clean bill of health, meeting or
exceeding the terms of its license," it added.
Glencore said it would work quickly to resolve the matter,
noting that the decision to suspend part of the mine's operations
may have been related to unsubstantiated reports in the local
press.
The partial closure has affected 300 jobs and 1.5% of Mopani's
annual copper production capacity.
Among the demands in the suspension order from the ZEMA are that
Mopani erect acid mist barriers to minimise the "down-wind effects
of acid mist and vapour" get "effective and efficient acid
mist/vapor equipment, which takes into consideration measurements
for meteorological parameters such as wind speed and direction,
humidity, temperature, etc. to get more reliable and accurate
data."
ZEMA also wanted effective measures to reduce noise pollution
from the crusher plant be put in place.
The eighth point was that Mopani prepare a comprehensive
environmental and social management plan for the heap leach process
which should be submitted to ZEMA for approval.
The suspension came into force with immediate effect, according
to the ZEMA statement from March 1.
-By Geoffrey Sinkamba and Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires;
jeff.kapembwa@gmail.com
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