Kabwe, the second largest city in Zambia with a population of 300,000, is located about 130km north of the nation's capital, Lusaka. It is one of six towns situated around the Copperbelt, once Zambia's thriving industrial base. In 1902, rich deposits of potentially dangerous lead were discovered in the mine and smelter located in the center of the town. Ore veins with lead concentrations as high as 20 percent have been mined deep into the earth and a smelting operation was set up to process the ore. Mining and smelting operations were running almost continuously up until 1994 without the government addressing the potential danger of lead. The mine and smelter, owned by the now privatized Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines, is no longer operating but has left a city with poison and toxicity from hazardous concentrations of lead in the soil and water.

During the operation there were no pollution laws regulating emissions from the mine and smelter plant. In turn, air, soil, and vegetation were all subjected to contamination, and ultimately, over some decades, millions of human lives were also affected. Some recent findings reveal the extent to which lead--one of the most potent neurotoxins known to man--has effected the health of Kabwe citizens. In the U.S., normal blood levels of lead are less than 10 ug/dL (micrograms per deciliter). Symptoms of acute poisoning occur at blood levels of 20 and above, resulting in vomiting, diarrhea, and leading to muscle spasms and kidney damage. Levels of over ten are considered unhealthy and levels in excess of 120 can often lead to death. In Kabwe, blood concentrations of 300 ug/dL have been recorded in children and records show average blood levels of children range between 60 and 120 ug/dL.

Children that play in the soil and young men that scavenge the mines for scraps of metal are most susceptible to lead produced by the mine and smelter. A small waterway runs from the mine to the center of town and had been used to carry waste from the once active smelter. For years there were no restrictions on the waterway, and in some instances local children use it for bathing. In addition to water exposure, workers are frequently exposed to lead by inhaling the dust that accumulated in their own backyards.

Zambia is a land-locked country in Central/Southern Africa with a population of about 10 million people. About 1.25 million people inhabit the capital, Lusaka, with another 2 million in the northern Copperbelt region. Major pollution-related problems are due to mining and industrial waste. In 2001, Blacksmith Institute helped to found ARE, an NGO focusing on a heavily polluted industrial area on the Kafue River. The Kafue River, part of the Zambezi basin, is a source of potable water for over forty percent of Zambia's population. It is also host to wildlife and birds. For decades, industries such as copper mines, metallurgical plants, textile plants, fertilizer factories, sugar processing plants, cement factories, various agricultural activities, and the Kafue Sewage Treatment Plant (KSTP) have polluted the river. Mineral deposits, chemicals, and suspended solids have led to overgrowth of aquatic weeds, choking river life. The continuous discharge of raw sewage into the Kafue River from the KSTP has contributed to the steady supply of nutrients (ortho-phosphates, nitrates, ammonia, etc.) ensuring the proliferation of various types of weeds, like the Salvina molesta, thereby causing eutrophication. Both aquatic life and human health are in danger. High incidences of environmentally mediated disease, such as gastro-enteritis, intestinal worms, and diarrhea diseases mostly in children have been reported from communities around the river and have been linked to drinking water from certain parts of the river. The raw sewer pollution of Kafue River could inadvertently lead to outbreaks of epidemics like cholera.

Bata Tannery uses various chemicals in tanning animal skins. Amongst these chemicals is chromium sulfate, which can easily be converted to either hexavalent or trivalent chromium. The effect of these chemicals on human and aquatic life is potentially lethal. Equally, the yeast production from Lee Yeast results in high concentrations of both chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in the wastewater. The net effect is the reduction in the river system's oxygen concentration, leading to toxic anaerobic conditions.

For almost a century, Kabwe, a city of 300,000 in Zambia, has been highly contaminated with lead from a government-owned lead mine and smelter, Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM). Although the mine has been closed since 1994, residents continue to get sick and die from the contamination due to a lack of cleanup efforts on the part of the company and the government.

Lead is one of the most potent neurotoxins known to humans. When breathed in, lead directly attacks the central nervous system. It is particularly damaging to infants and children, and can cross the mother's placenta, putting unborn and nursing infants at risk. Yet, remarkably, the citizens of Kabwe have until recently been completely unaware that they are living in one of the most poisoned cities on earth. Blacksmith founded a local NGO, Kabwe Environmental and Rehabilitation Foundation (KERF), that has been bringing educational services to the community on how to limit exposure to lead, and nursing support for those who are ill.

This project seeks to contribute to the reduction of occupational health hazards of small-scale gold miners in the Manica District of Mozambique by promoting the use of mercury retorts, while at the same time leading to overall reduction of environmental degradation in the region.

Manica is a district of Mozambique in the Manica Province with a population of 155,731 people. Manica District borders with the Republic of Zimbabwe in the west, the District of Gondola in the east, the District of Barué to the north through the Pungué River, and the District of Sussundenga in the south, which is bounded by the Revué and Zonué Rivers.

In the Manica District of Mozambique, more than 10,000 people are directly and indirectly involved in artisanal (small-scale) gold mining activities (garimpagem) as their main source of income. Most of “garimpeiros” (artisanal miners) use mercury to extract gold form the mineral ore; the amalgation process recovers very little of that mercury, which pollutes the nearby environment. The majority of the mercury used pollutes local waterways and soil as well as threatens the livelihood of plant and animal species in the area. Mercury amalgamation results in the discharge of an estimated 1000 tons of mercury per annum, representing about 30 percent of the world’s anthropogenic mercury releases.

The process of amalgamation transforms elemental mercury into methylmercury—one of the most toxic organic compound and a powerful neurotoxin that works its way up the food chain through bioaccumulation. According to the Ban Mercury Group, as much as 95 percent of all mercury used in small-scale gold mining is released into the environment, constituting a dangers on all fronts—economic, environmental and human health. It is estimated that over 13 million people work as artisanal miners worldwide

The Kafue River Basin in the Chingola District, Zambia has experienced heavy polluting over the past several decades. Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) is the primary source of this pollution, disposing of industrial waste products and various bio-chemical substances directly into the reservoirs. They are not the only polluters, however, as the region is home to roughly 40% of the nation’s socio-economic activity; a range of other industries are also at fault for the current state of the river basin: pulp-and-paper mills, fertilizer factories, granulation plants, abattoirs, textile manufacturers, and more. More than 93,000 tons of industrial waste are produced annually, most of which finds it way into the Kafue River. From there it flows into the Zambezi River – Africa’s fourth largest – that claims Zambia as its source and winds through Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique before eventually emptying out into the Indian Ocean.

As a result of the pollution, the steadily increasing population in the Chingola District face severe water shortages. The full extent of the environmental impact has not yet been determined, but because of significant habitat destruction and land/soil degradation, the cost to local ecosystems is likely quite high. The color of the brilliantly blue Kafue River has slowly turned green. Indigenous fish have developed an unusual and unpleasant odor. Aquatic weeds dumped by some facilities into the river system, combined with nitrogen and phosphate waste from other facilities, together degrade biodiversity.

Both aquatic life and human health are in danger. High incidences of environmentally mediated disease, such as gastro-enteritis, intestinal worms, and diarrhea diseases mostly in children have been reported from communities around the river and have been linked to drinking water from certain parts of the river. The raw sewer pollution of Kafue River could inadvertently lead to outbreaks of epidemics like cholera.

This project was initiated in late 2006 in dialogue between Blacksmith Institute and the Yunnan Environmental Protection Bureau. The key problem identified was the contamination of local water supplies, high in the headwaters of major river systems, by small abandoned metal mines and processing facilities. The local pollution problems are severe and, because heavy metals do not degrade in the environment, erosion of these materials adds to the cumulative pollution load on the river system. The objective was to develop practical approaches for a typical case, in collaboration with the Yunnan and local EPBs, which would be a model for other mountain villages with similar problems. The project was structured to provide direction and momentum for a wider effort by the Province to address mining pollution and water contamination challenges.

The focus of the work is on health impact for humans, since these sites discharge toxic metal contamination into local waterways that are sources of drinking water for local populations.

This project was initiated in late 2006 in dialogue between Blacksmith Institute and the Yunnan Environmental Protection Bureau. The key problem identified was the contamination of local water supplies, high in the headwaters of major river systems, by small abandoned metal mines and processing facilities. The local pollution problems are severe and, because heavy metals do not degrade in the environment, erosion of these materials adds to the cumulative pollution load on the river system. The objective was to develop practical approaches for a typical case, in collaboration with the Yunnan and local EPBs, which would be a model for other mountain villages with similar problems. The project was structured to provide direction and momentum for a wider effort by the Province to address mining pollution and water contamination challenges. The focus of the work is on health impact for humans, since these sites discharge toxic metal contamination into local waterways that are sources of drinking water for local populations.

Gorniak is the center of the ore mining industry in the Altai region. Copper, zinc and lead are extracted in the Loktevsky District.

The village of Romanovka is located 50km from the Talakan uranium mine. Uranium concentrates are transported across the River Vitim by ferries and cargo boats. Some of its abandoned ditches, known to be radioactive, were for many years exposed to open air, and studies showed a correlation between air- and water-borne exposure to this uranium supply and a cancer cluster in the local community. However, as is frequently the case with mining in developing regions, there had been no technical documentation throughout this mine's history and thus solidly proving a link was difficult. The village is also located just 1.5 km from other natural uranium deposits, and residents are known to raise crops and livestock there. Regardless of the immediate source, villagers were definitely suffering from exposure to radioactive material.

The village of Romanovka is located 50km from the Talakan uranium mine. Uranium concentrates are transported across the River Vitim by ferries and cargo boats. Some of the mine's abandoned ditches, known to be radioactive, were for many years exposed to open air, and studies showed a correlation between air- and water-borne exposure to this uranium supply and a cancer cluster in the local community. However, as is frequently the case with mining in developing regions, there had been no technical documentation throughout this mine's history and thus solidly proving a causal link was difficult. The village is also located just 1.5 km from other natural uranium deposits, and residents are known to raise crops and livestock in those zones. Regardless of the immediate source, villagers were definitely suffering from exposure to radioactive material.

There are twenty three tailing dumps and thirteen waste rock dumps scattered throughout Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan, home to a former Soviet-era uranium plant. From 1946-1968 the plant produced and processed more than 10,000 metric tons of uranium ore--products eventually used to create the Soviet Union's first atomic bomb. What remains now are not atomic bombs, but 1.96 million cubic meters of radioactive mining waste. The combination of unsecured radioactive waste with the region's high seismic activity threatens to contaminate the drinking water supply of the entire Ferghana valley: a fertile and densely-populated area, with inhabitants in the hundreds of thousands, stretching throughout Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. In May 2002 a huge mudslide blocked the course of the Mailuu-Suu river and threatened to submerge another toxic waste site. In April 2005 the Obschestvenny Reiting newspaper reported that after another earthquake and landslide, about 300,000 cubic meters of material fell into the Mailuu-Suu River near the uranium mine tailings.

Zmeenogorsk is a small town in an area of hills, about 250 kilometers south west of Barnaul, the capital of Altai Krai (in southern Siberia). A small mining town, it was a center for gold and silver mining over the past century. There was a concentration/processing operation on a flat area of riverbank on the outskirts of the town. Mining activities ceased about 50 years ago and there are now only ruins of the processing facilities (along with the ruins of a prison which as also on the site). No details are available of the specific operations of the plant but it is believed that mercury was added at the concentration stage.

Ever since 1840, when coal was discovered in Singrauli, the area's development has revolved around exploiting this natural resource. Today, there are eleven coal mines and six thermal power plants in the region, which straddles the border between Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, earning Singrauli its nickname as India’s “Energy Capital”.

Chromite, a heavy metal used in the production of chrome metal and chromium, was discovered in India, in 1949. Today, about 97 percent of the nation’s deposits are found in the mineral-rich earth of the Sukinda Valley, Jajpur district, and it is the home to one of the largest open cast chrome ore mines in the world. Over 30 million tons of overburden (leftover rock after ore-removal) litters the surrounding areas and the Brahmani river banks. This area is flood-prone resulting in significant contamination of the waterways.

About 20 kilometers west of Chaibasa, the headquarters of West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, lies the Roro hills-- home to an abandoned chrysotile asbestos mine. The Roro mines were closed down in 1983 after Hyderabad Asbestos Cement Products Ltd. (now known as Hyderabad Industries Limited) decided that they were no longer profitable.

Nearly 0.7 million tons of asbestos waste mixed with chromite-bearing host rock lies scattered here and in 20 years no study has been conducted to assess the fate of this hazardous waste dumped improperly on top of Roro hills. The waste material extends several meters down slope spreading into the paddy fields on the foothills of Roro. About 40 centimeters of thick silty waste of crushed rocks is spread over the paddy fields and poisoning the local residents.

Mt. Diwalwal is located in the Southeastern region of the Philippines. In 1982, the discovery of gold on this mountain triggered a gold rush to an area of 729 hectares. In the opinion of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), it is ‘the largest gold deposit in the world’. An estimated $1.8 billion worth of gold reserves remain untapped in the 5,000-hectare mountain where some 30,000 small-scale miners operate, many illegally. The Naboc and Agusan rivers are grossly contaminated with mercury and cyanide from mining operations.

Lower Klity village lies on the west rim of the Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary in Kanchanaburi province. The Huai Klity stream flows through the village and eventually drains into the Kwae Yai River in the eastern region of Thailand. A lead mine that operated since the early 80’s was closed seven years ago by Thailand’s Department of Mineral Resources due to pollution concerns. However villagers’ health continues to suffer from the past mining operations.