21st March, 2026
The Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA) today joined the Honourable Minister of Water Development and Sanitation, Eng. Collins Nzovu, and key stakeholders to officially launch the clean-up, remediation, and restoration programme for areas affected by the pollution incident at Sino Metals Leach Zambia Limited.
The programme, which took place at Kalusale area in Kalulushi District of Copperbelt Province, marks a critical step in addressing the impacts of the Tailings Dam 15 (TD15) failure, which released tailings into the Chambeshi Stream, Mwambashi River, and the Kafue River. Localised impacts on water, sediments, and soils have been identified, and measures are now underway to restore affected ecosystems and support communities.
Following guidance from the independent assessor, Applied Science and Technology Associates Limited, Sino Metals, under strict supervision from WARMA, the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA), and the Minerals Regulation Commission (MRC), has now moved into full implementation of a structured clean-up and restoration programme.
๐Š๐ž๐ฒ ๐Œ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ˆ๐ง๐œ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ž :
-๐‘น๐’†๐’”๐’•๐’๐’“๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’๐’‡ ๐’˜๐’‚๐’•๐’†๐’“ ๐’’๐’–๐’‚๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’š ๐’•๐’‰๐’“๐’๐’–๐’ˆ๐’‰ ๐’‘๐‘ฏ ๐’„๐’๐’“๐’“๐’†๐’„๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’„๐’๐’๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’–๐’๐’–๐’” ๐’Ž๐’๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’๐’“๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ
-๐‘น๐’†๐’Ž๐’๐’—๐’‚๐’, ๐’…๐’“๐’†๐’…๐’ˆ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ, ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’”๐’‚๐’‡๐’† ๐’…๐’Š๐’”๐’‘๐’๐’”๐’‚๐’ ๐’๐’“ ๐’”๐’•๐’‚๐’ƒ๐’Š๐’๐’Š๐’”๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’๐’‡ ๐’„๐’๐’๐’•๐’‚๐’Ž๐’Š๐’๐’‚๐’•๐’†๐’… ๐’”๐’†๐’…๐’Š๐’Ž๐’†๐’๐’•๐’”
-๐‘น๐’†๐’‰๐’‚๐’ƒ๐’Š๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’๐’‡ ๐’”๐’๐’Š๐’๐’” ๐’˜๐’Š๐’•๐’‰ ๐’•๐’‚๐’“๐’ˆ๐’†๐’•๐’†๐’… ๐’“๐’†๐’…๐’–๐’„๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’๐’‡ ๐’‰๐’†๐’‚๐’—๐’š ๐’Ž๐’†๐’•๐’‚๐’๐’”
-๐‘น๐’†๐’”๐’•๐’๐’“๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’๐’‡ ๐’‚๐’’๐’–๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’„ ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’“๐’Š๐’‘๐’‚๐’“๐’Š๐’‚๐’ ๐’†๐’„๐’๐’”๐’š๐’”๐’•๐’†๐’Ž๐’”, ๐’Š๐’๐’„๐’๐’–๐’…๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‡๐’Š๐’”๐’‰ ๐’“๐’†๐’”๐’•๐’๐’„๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ
-๐‘ช๐’๐’๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’–๐’๐’–๐’” ๐’†๐’๐’—๐’Š๐’“๐’๐’๐’Ž๐’†๐’๐’•๐’‚๐’ ๐’Ž๐’๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’๐’“๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’—๐’†๐’“๐’Š๐’‡๐’Š๐’„๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’
WARMA is actively overseeing the implementation of all clean-up measures to ensure they are scientifically guided.
The Authority is monitoring water quality in real-time to protect communities, enforcing compliance with national water and environmental standards, and verifying that restoration outcomes meet required benchmarks.
This programme demonstrates WARMAโ€™s commitment to protecting Zambiaโ€™s water resources, supporting affected communities, and ensuring sustainable environmental management.