Environmental and social risks associated with small scale mining in Kabwe and mitigation measures
Abstract
Studies on environmental and social risks associated with artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) activities around Sable Zinc mine, Kabwe, Zambia in 2023 were investigated and mitigation measures suggested. ASM operations were noticed to pose significant threats to land degradation as evidenced by the presence of dungeons and valleys which later became sources of air and water pollution. Increased dust-fallout up to 5000 mg/m3 per day from May-November and a decrease to 2500 mg/m3 per day in December was observed against 500 mg/m3 Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) set limit. The increase and decrease in aforementioned periods could have been due to increase and decrease of mining operations in the period underreview. Though detected Pb and Zn concentrations at pH 7 in almost all areas were below the set limit of 0.5 mg/L and 1 mg/L by ZEMA, respectively, soil contamination was inevitable and this was due to complexation of Pb and Zn nuclear hydroxylate species and quicklime used as a pH modifier resulting from molecular electrostatic potential variations. To mitigate this challenge, interactions of metal species complexes with eco-friendly polysaccharides such as xanthan and guar gums would aid to further cushion this contamination before discharging water into the environment. Further, though the noise pollution was also below 85 dB from various sections, further decrease in noise pollution could be achieved by setting the speed limit for the earth moving machinery and promoting the usage of ear plugs among mining actors. In general, in order to fully mitigate these challenges, strong policies need to be implemented by the government that would while allowing legit operations by these miners, deter anything that would facilitate the aforementioned challenges.
