SINO Metals Leach Zambia Limited and NFC Africa Mining Limited are facing a US$80 billion lawsuit in the Lusaka High Court, where 176 farmers of Kalusale in Chambishi are demanding compensation for alleged environmental pollution caused by a tailings dam collapse.
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The petitioners, who depend on subsistence and small-scale farming, claim their livelihoods were destroyed by toxic waste from the dam.
They are seeking an emergency fund of at least US$200 million to address immediate needs, citing widespread crop destruction, soil contamination, food insecurity, and loss of income.
Some residents also allege they were threatened with arrest by agricultural officers when they attempted to harvest contaminated crops.
In their filing, the residents argue that their constitutional rights to life, property, health, and clean water have been violated.
Their demands include immediate provision of clean water, food supplies, cash compensation, and temporary accommodation, as well as long-term remedies such as medical surveillance, land rehabilitation, and the establishment of an US$80 billion escrow account to guarantee environmental restoration and compensation.
The petitioners also accuse Sino Metals of intimidating residents to discourage them from engaging lawyers and civil society organisations.
NFC Africa Mining, in a letter dated August 29, 2025, denied responsibility for the incident, but the petition points to alleged breaches of mining regulations and constitutional provisions.
According to the petition, on February 18, 2025, a Sino-operated tailings dam within NFC’s surface area discharged between 50 million and 900,000 million litres of acidic waste into surrounding waterways, farmland, and residential areas.
The spill reportedly polluted the Chambeshi, Kalusale, and Mwambashi streams, as well as the Kafue River, destroying crops, killing fish and livestock, and disrupting water supply in Kitwe.
The Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) later confirmed that about 75 percent of leach residue had been discharged into the environment, damaging maize and groundnut fields.
The Ministry of Water Development and Sanitation reported pH levels as low as 1.92 in the Mwambashi stream, far below permissible safety levels while where’s the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock described the spill as an ecological crisis threatening fisheries relied upon by nearly 300,000 households.
The case has been filed by Messrs. Malambo and Company on behalf of Peter Shula and others.
Kalemba September 17, 2025
