Toxic mine waste in Zambia’s Kabwe region. Photo: 2024 Juliane Kippenberg/Human Rights Watch.
A South African-owned company is under fire for toxic mine waste from an unrehabilitated mine in Zambia’s Kabwe region that has caused lead poisoning, with children being the most affected.
Enviro Processing Limited, a subsidiary of Johannesburg-based Jubilee Metals Group, holds a small-scale licence for waste from the former Kabwe mine area and its waste, which is called “Black Mountain.”
On its website, Jubilee Metals says by processing remnant mining residues and waste material, it not only addresses the legacies of historical mining operations by rehabilitating the environment and clearing pollution, “but we are also doing so in a manner that improves the quality of life of those living in proximity of these installations”.
But researchers estimate that more than 95% of children in the area have elevated blood lead levels, with half requiring urgent medical intervention.
Kabwe ranks among the world’s most lead-contaminated cities, with its pollution coming from the lead and zinc mine established during British rule and closed in 1994 but never cleaned up.
According to documents obtained by Human Rights Watch (HRW), Enviro Processing Limited signed a deal in February with Zambian firm Chitofu General Dealers and Chinese processor Union Star Industry to offload “zinc tailings” from Kabwe’s notorious “Black Mountain.”
But the February 2025 agreement, reviewed by the HRW, does not mention the toxic lead content that geologists have confirmed in the waste. Residents told the HRW that trucks linked to Chitofu have been seen hauling material from the site as recently as July.
Jubilee Metals, in correspondence with the HRW, denied selling waste but confirmed that Chitofu had been granted “exclusive access” to a portion of the tailings.
The company said the arrangement was made in collaboration with Central Province authorities to curb violent altercations by local youth groups who had previously clashed over access to the waste. The HRW says the concession risks dispersing lead dust more widely, exacerbating already dire health conditions.
Chitofu’s leadership has close ties to Zambia’s ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) party.
Its owners are Wisdom Lweendo, who was President Hakainde Hichilema’s campaign coordinator in Central Province during the 2021 elections, and Godfrey Shibalwa, who was the UNPND’s candidate for the mayor of Kabwe. Local media reported clashes earlier this year between rival UPND members over control of the Kabwe tailings.
“Selling lead-bearing waste in this manner poses a serious risk to children’s health,” said Juliane Kippenberg, associate children’s rights director at the HRW. “The Zambian government needs to enforce its own mining and environmental laws and protect people’s right to a healthy environment.”
Kabwe’s poisonous legacy stretches back to the colonial era. For decades, British operators extracted lead and zinc without regulation, leaving behind waste piles and contaminated soil when the mine shut three decades ago. The World Health Organisation has described Kabwe as a global hotspot of lead poisoning. Exposure to lead can result in irreversible brain damage, miscarriage, illness and death.
In March 2025, the HRW published a report documenting ongoing lead waste extraction by Enviro Processing Limited, Union Star Industry and other companies, accusing the government of enabling violations of environmental and mining law by issuing licences despite clear health risks.
Under Zambia’s Mines and Minerals Act, authorities can sanction companies for uncontrollable pollution and unsafe operations. Last month, officials suspended four Chinese processing plants in Kabwe for breaching environmental standards — but Enviro Processing Limited, Chitofu and Union Star continue to operate.
Residents and civil society groups have long called for a comprehensive cleanup of Kabwe.
The HRW has urged the government to suspend waste removal from the Enviro Processing Limited concession, investigate Chitofu’s political links and establish a national remediation programme in consultation with affected communities and experts.
“The government recently showed it is willing to act by suspending some processing companies,” Kippenberg said. “It should take the next step: stop the removal of lead waste from Kabwe, hold politically connected actors accountable and finally begin the cleanup that residents have been demanding for decades.”
Jubilee Metal Group had not responded to queries from the Mail & Guardian about its operations at Kabwe by the time of publication.