UPDATE: Zambia Suspends Mopani Operations Due To Acid Mists

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; [e-mail]