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Namibian smelter expansion risks deepening environmental and health problems

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As it nears two years of a Bankwatch visit to the copper smelter in Namibia and the uncovering of an unsafe arsenic disposal site, a planned expansion has revealed so far undisclosed environmental information.


Dirty Precious Metals: Dumping European Toxic Waste in Tsumeb, Namibia

Based on a visit to Namibia this report assesses the environmental and social standards at the Tsumeb smelter, acquired by Canadian Dundee Precious Metals in 2010. The smelter specialises in working with some of the dirtiest copper concentrates half of which sourced from the Chelopech gold and copper mine in Bulgaria. The concentrates are extremely rich in arsenic and according to our calculations most of the toxic arsenic trioxide that comes as a by-product of the smelting is being dumped in Namibia, leading to severe health impacts for locals.

Health reports confirmed widespread over-exposure to toxic arsenic at Tsumeb smelter in Namibia

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Following Bankwatch’s revelations about toxic pollutants at the Tsumeb smelter in Namibia, the smelter’s owner, Canadian mining company Dundee Precious Metals (DPM), contested our findings in Namibian news reports. Without substantiating its claims with facts, however, and in light of the results of local health surveys the company’s reassurances ring hollow and meaningless.


Exporting toxic pollution from Europe to Namibia

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The case of the Tsumeb smelter in Namibia demonstrates how European pollution is exported to the Global South with indirect help of public development money.


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