Zijin Mining to pay $3m fine for hazardous waste water leaks

A court judgement showed on Monday that the gold miner will have to pay the money for the key role it played in the leaking of hazardous waste water last year.

HONG KONG (Reuters)  - February 1, 2011

Chinese gold miner Zijin Mining will fork out 20 million yuan ($3 million), its latest penalty for its key role in hazardous waste water leaks last year, a court judgement showed on Monday.

Zijin, in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange, cited a summary of the gold miner's first trial, stating it had to pay a total of 30 million yuan, less the 9.56 million yuan it paid last October in administration costs.

Poor maintenance of the lining of the waste reservoir at the Zijinshan copper and gold mine led to two breaches in July 2010, dumping toxic waste into Fujian province's Ting river, killing a large number of fish and polluting drinking water for tens of thousands of people.

Zijin, which had enjoyed a reputation as one of China's premier mining firms and has mining interests overseas, has run into frequent trouble with tailing dams.

In September last year, the firm halted production at a tin mine in southern Guangdong province after it said a leak in the mine's residue pool caused by heavy rains had flooded nearby villages and killed several villagers.

Zijin shares closed up 0.3 percent on Monday, having fallen 3 percent in the past 12 months, underperforming the benchmark index, up 17 percent in the same period.

(Reporting by Farah Master; Editing by David Holmes)
($1=6.581 YUAN)