environmental impacts of mining in zambia Towards better environmental management and sustainable exploitation of mineral resources Joanna Lindahl July 2014 SGU-rapport 2014:22 Cover: Kanshanshi copper gold mine in Solwezi, Zambia. Photo: Joanna Lindahl. Geological Survey of Sweden Box 670, SE-751 28 Uppsala Phone: +46 18 17 90 00 Fax: +46 18 17 92 10 e-mail:
[email protected] www.sgu.se SUMMARY Environmental impacts from mining operations are significant and quite often severe, especially in developing nations which lack adequate management of the sector. In Zambia, impacts from mining results from both historical and ongoing mining operations, and the majority of them is located in the Copperbelt district. Recent investments in exploration and mine developments have, however, led to new operations also in other provinces. The main environmental problems associated with mines in Zambia are pollution of air, soil and water, geotechnical issues and land degradation. The contribution from old mining legacy sites have shown to be minor compared to current mining operations. The governmental framework that regulates the mining sectors environmental compliance is centered on Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA). The agency authorizes min- ing projects through an environmental impact assessment (EIA) process, issues environmental permits and is responsible for auditing. The Mine Safety Department also has governmental responsibility for the sectors environmental issues. Existing laws and regulations regarding en- vironmental performance are relatively up to date in Zambia; the main problem for the country is that the implementation is not satisfactory. Partially this is explained by lack of coordination between institutions but also to a large extent on the lack of manpower and technical capacity.