Ting River Contaminated with Copper Acid

Zijin Mining Group, China's top gold producer, announced the wastewater leakage from its copper smelting plant ten days after the incident

(Beijing) – Wastewater from a Zijinshan Copper Mine smelting plant leaked copper acid into the nearby Ting River in Shanghang county of Fujian Province on July 3, resulting in the poisoning of 1,890 tons of fish and massive economic losses for local fishermen.

Zijin Mining delayed the disclosure of incident to the public until July 13, which brought widespread criticism. The company announced that about 9,100 cubic meters of wastewater containing copper acid flowed into the Ting River around the plant. Zijin Mining suspended the trading of its H-shares on July 12.

The Zijinshan Copper Mine is a copper processing subsidiary of Zijin Mining Group Co., China's largest gold producer headquartered in Shanghang county of Fujian Province. Zijin Mining Group is a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2003 and on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2008.

Prior to this incident, a copper acid contamination spill in the Ting River occurred in June. The local government did not release any information after the incident. Local residents told Caixin that the source of the accident was a Zijin Mining Group warehouse located in Wuping county of Fujian Province.