:Kabwe mine

Kabwe is located near the African Copperbelt, {{convert|100|km}} north of Zambia's capital, Lusaka. The town had a population of about 220,000 in 2017. The mine and the area around it were originally called "Broken Hill" after a mine in Australia that possessed similar ores.{{Cite web |date=24 May 2022 |title=Kabwe: A famous fossil unearthed amid the human costs of mining |url=https://johnhawks.net/weblog/kabwe-famous-fossil-polluted-site/ |access-date=26 March 2023 |website=John Hawks |language=en |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326191620/https://johnhawks.net/weblog/kabwe-famous-fossil-polluted-site/ |url-status=live }} The area was renamed "Kabwe" after Zambian independence in 1964.{{Cite journal |last1=Southwood |first1=Malcolm |last2=Cairncross |first2=Bruce |last3=Rumsey |first3=Mike S. |date=4 March 2019 |title=Minerals of the Kabwe ("Broken Hill") Mine, Central Province, Zambia |url= |journal=Rocks & Minerals |language=en |volume=94 |issue=2 |pages=114–149 |doi=10.1080/00357529.2019.1530038 |s2cid=135446729 |issn=0035-7529}} Mining in Zambia continues to provide over 40% of government revenue, although it has provided few benefits to local communities who frequently live in poverty.{{Cite news |last=Gbadamosi |first=Nosmot |date=8 February 2023 |title=Zambia Takes Anglo American to Court |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/02/08/zambia-south-africa-anglo-american-mining-court-lawsuit/ |access-date=7 August 2023 |work=Foreign Policy |language=en-US |archive-date=29 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329141011/https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/02/08/zambia-south-africa-anglo-american-mining-court-lawsuit/ |url-status=live }}

Lead poisoning most seriously affects children who are exposed to lead in dust and frequently put their hands in their mouths.{{Cite journal |last1=Bose-O'Reilly |first1=Stephan |last2=Yabe |first2=John |last3=Makumba |first3=Joseph |last4=Schutzmeier |first4=Paul |last5=Ericson |first5=Bret |last6=Caravanos |first6=Jack |date=1 August 2018 |title=Lead intoxicated children in Kabwe, Zambia |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320697696 |journal=Environmental Research |language=en |volume=165 |pages=420–424 |doi=10.1016/j.envres.2017.10.024 |issn=0013-9351 |pmid=29089102 |bibcode=2018ER....165..420B |s2cid=33469863 |via=ResearchGate}} This poisoning can affect brain development and cause permanent damage at a young age. Severe exposure can cause death. Lead in the blood above 5 μg/dL is considered elevated, and death is likely when levels are above 150 μg/dL. The United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) has set 3.5 μg/dL as the allowable level of lead in the blood.

File:Rhodesian Railways under construction near Broken Hill Zambia.png

During its life, the mine produced over 1.8 million tons (mt) of zinc, 0.8 mt of lead metal; 7,816 tonnes of vanadium oxide; 80,000 kilograms of silver; and 235,000 kilograms of cadmium.

Mining began in 1904 and reached commercial production in 1906 when the first railway in the country, operated by Rhodesian Railways, reached the Broken Hill mine.{{Cite journal |last=Due |first=John F. |date=1986 |title=Trends in Rail Transport in Zambia and Tanzania |url=https://pdfproc.lib.msu.edu/?file=/DMC/African+Journals/pdfs/Utafiti/vol8no2/aejp008002005.pdf |journal=Utafiti: Journal of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences University of Dar Es Salaam |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=43–58 |access-date=12 August 2023 |archive-date=12 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812180204/https://pdfproc.lib.msu.edu/?file=/DMC/African+Journals/pdfs/Utafiti/vol8no2/aejp008002005.pdf |url-status=live }} During its peak production from 1925 to 1974, the mine was majority owned by Anglo American plc, which was headquartered in South Africa at the time.{{Cite journal |last=Makoni |first=Munyaradzi |date=7 August 2021 |title=UN concern over health at site of former Zambian lead mine |url= |journal=The Lancet |language=English |volume=398 |issue=10299 |pages=478 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01794-3 |issn=0140-6736 |pmid=34364509|s2cid=236931443 }} Anglo American is one of the largest mining companies in the world. The Zambian government then took over the mine until it closed in 1994. Anglo American has said it never owned or operated the mine.

In 2021, there were still about 5 million tons of mine tailings on the site, and the Zambian government had licensed reprocessing of this waste and further mining by the South African company Jubilee Metals. The area is also mined by artisanal miners.

File:Hopeite-Hemimorphite-179854.jpg

Europeans discovered the Kabwe deposit in 1902. In 1929, observers reported large caves, "lined with beautiful crystals of pyromorphite and cerussite", as well as descloizite and vanadinite.

The Kabwe deposit is a carbonate hosted lead-zinc deposit consisting of four primary orebodies. The ore is primarily sphalerite, galena, pyrite, chalcopyrite, briartite and renierite. There are many other secondary minerals.{{Cite journal |last1=Kamona |first1=A. F. |last2=Friedrich |first2=G. H. |date=March 2007 |title=Geology, mineralogy and stable isotope geochemistry of the Kabwe carbonate-hosted Pb–Zn deposit, Central Zambia |url= |journal=Ore Geology Reviews |language=en |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=217–243 |doi=10.1016/j.oregeorev.2006.02.003 |bibcode=2007OGRv...30..217K |issn=0169-1368}} Many aesthetic mineral specimens were produced at Kabwe, some of which were acquired by the British royal family. Many of these specimens were also donated to the British Museum of Natural History.

The mine operated without environmental regulation and poisoned hundreds of thousands of people, especially between 1925 and 1974. Numerous studies since 1971 have confirmed a pattern of lead poisoning in the area,{{Cite journal |last1=Nakata |first1=Hokuto |last2=Nakayama |first2=Shouta M.M. |last3=Yabe |first3=John |last4=Muzandu |first4=Kaampwe |last5=Toyomaki |first5=Haruya |last6=Yohannes |first6=Yared Beyene |last7=Kataba |first7=Andrew |last8=Zyambo |first8=Golden |last9=Ikenaka |first9=Yoshinori |last10=Choongo |first10=Kennedy |last11=Izhizuka |first11=Mayumi |display-authors=3 |date=January 2021 |title=Clinical biochemical parameters associated with the exposure to multiple environmental metals in residents from Kabwe, Zambia |journal=Chemosphere |volume=262 |pages=127788 |doi=10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127788 |pmid=33182082 |bibcode=2021Chmsp.262l7788N |s2cid=224912917|doi-access=free |hdl=2115/87839 |hdl-access=free }} and Kabwe remains one of the world's most polluted towns.{{Cite web |last=Oduah |first=Chika |date=18 August 2022 |title='It's On a Different Dimension': Inside Africa's Most Toxic City |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d39v8/kabwe-zambia-lead-poisoning |access-date=9 August 2023 |website=Vice |language=en |archive-date=11 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811153323/https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d39v8/kabwe-zambia-lead-poisoning |url-status=live }}{{Cite magazine |last=Walsh |first=Bryan |date=12 September 2007 |title=The World's Most Polluted Places |language=en-US |magazine=Time |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1661031_1661028_1661025,00.html |access-date=9 August 2023 |issn=0040-781X}}{{Cite web |last=Hokkaido University |date=4 November 2020 |title=The lasting effects of pollution from the Kabwe mine |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-11-effects-pollution-kabwe.html |access-date=9 August 2023 |website=Phys.org |language=en |archive-date=15 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230615214208/https://phys.org/news/2020-11-effects-pollution-kabwe.html |url-status=live }}

A 2011 research project funded by the World Bank determined that lead contamination of soils in nearby communities was 10 times the level allowed by the CDC (which is 400 ppm), and contamination was as high as 10,000 ppm in some places—including the grounds of a local health clinic. A 2015 study found that 100% of children tested had blood lead levels (BLL) exceeding CDC guidelines. Many children have BLLs above 45 μg/dL. A 2018 analysis of results from previous lead toxicity studies confirmed that local communities had high blood lead levels, especially among children and pregnant mothers. Many of these people required immediate medical intervention. A 2020 study assessing population-wide lead exposure found an average BLL of 11.9 μg/dL; over 200,000 people had a BLL above 5 μg/dL.{{Cite journal |last1=Yamada |first1=Daichi |last2=Hiwatari |first2=Masato |last3=Hangoma |first3=Peter |last4=Narita |first4=Daiju |last5=Mphuka |first5=Chrispin |last6=Chitah |first6=Bona |last7=Yabe |first7=John |last8=Nakayama |first8=Shouta M. M. |last9=Nakata |first9=Hokuto |last10=Choongo |first10=Kennedy |last11=Ishizuka |first11=Mayumi |display-authors=3 |date=15 September 2020 |title=Assessing the population-wide exposure to lead pollution in Kabwe, Zambia: an econometric estimation based on survey data |url= |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=15092 |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-71998-5 |pmid=32934309 |pmc=7492281 |issn=2045-2322 |doi-access=free}}

In October 2020, a lawsuit was filed in South Africa against Anglo American on behalf of lead poisoning victims.{{Cite news |last=Sguazzin |first=Antony |date=21 October 2020 |title=Zambians sue Anglo American mining company over lead poisoning |language=en |publisher=Bloomberg News |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-21/anglo-american-sued-for-lead-poisoning-in-zambia-mining-town |url-access=registration |access-date=26 March 2023 |archive-date=10 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710053158/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-21/anglo-american-sued-for-lead-poisoning-in-zambia-mining-town |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last1=Reid |first1=Helen |last2=Heiberg |first2=Tanisha |date=21 October 2020 |title=Anglo American's S.Africa unit faces class action over Zambia lead poisoning |language=en |work= |publisher=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/angloamerican-lawsuit-zambia-idUSL8N2HB3FS |access-date=26 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326193113/https://www.reuters.com/article/angloamerican-lawsuit-zambia-idUSL8N2HB3FS |url-status=live }} This lawsuit was ongoing in January 2023 when the High Court of South Africa heard plaintiffs' request to turn the case into a class action lawsuit for as many as 140,000 women and children affected by the lead poisoning.{{Cite news |last=Sguazzin |first=Antony |date=20 January 2023 |title=Court Told Anglo Turned Blind Eye to Zambian Lead Poisoning |language=en |work= |publisher=Bloomberg News |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-20/court-told-anglo-turned-blind-eye-to-zambian-lead-poisoning |url-access=registration |access-date=15 April 2023 |archive-date=27 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230827205059/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-20/court-told-anglo-turned-blind-eye-to-zambian-lead-poisoning |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=20 January 2023 |title=Lawsuit: Mining giant 'turned blind eye' to Zambia lead poisoning |language=en |publisher=Al Jazeera |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/20/mining-giant-turned-blind-eye-to-lead-poisoning-in-zambia |access-date=26 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326191611/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/20/mining-giant-turned-blind-eye-to-lead-poisoning-in-zambia |url-status=live }} The lawsuit could set an important precedent for holding corporations accountable for local impacts in African courts.

Anglo American says that it provided technical services at the mine and that the state-owned Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines has accepted liability for the poisoning.

In 2015, some cleanup was funded by environmental groups, and contaminated soil was removed and replaced for about 120 of the most polluted homes. By 2021, the Zambian government had taken some actions to provide healthcare for people but had not taken steps to clean up the toxic waste.

{{Main|Kabwe 1}}

File:Broken Hill Skull (Replica01).jpg]]

In 1921, two miners discovered a fossilised skull and some other human remains in the mine. The bones were sent to the London Museum of Natural History, and Arthur Smith Woodward published a paper naming the new human precursor Homo rhodesiensis. This fossil was the first remains of an extinct human relative to be found in Africa. The species was later determined to be Homo heidelbergensis.

The skull remains at the London Museum, and the Zambian government has requested that it be returned. It has been difficult to determine the age of the skull, partly because the area where it was found has been destroyed by mining activity. Original estimates dated the skull at 500,000 years old, but studies in 2020 used radioactive uranium isotopes to date the skull at closer to 300,000 years old.

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Category:Environmental disasters in Africa

Category:Kabwe

Category:Lead mines