OVERVIEW OF THE IMPACT OF MINING ON THE ... - IIED pubs

commercial maize and tobacco growing on the plateau. Several small communities are located along the major
roads between Kabwe and Ndola, as well as the great North Road from Kapiri Mposhi through Mkushi to Mpika.
3.16.1.4 Surface water users
There is some consumption of water for small-scale agriculture in the communal lands along the Luano
escarpment, whilst most of the water used for domestic purposes in the larger towns and cities is obtained
either from the Mulungushi River or from local boreholes and dolomite aquifers.
3.16.1.5 Water management systems
The area falls under the jurisdiction of the Zambian Department of Water Affairs.
3.16.1.6 Human impacts on water resources (excluding mining)
The following could be expected to have an impact on water resources:
• Disposal of solid and liquid wastes at Kabwe, Kapiri Mposhi and Mkushi;
• Urban run off from towns and cities;
• Non-point sources of domestic effluent in the urban and rural areas;
• Contaminated (fertilizers and pesticides) return flows from large-scale farming enterprises; and
• Litter and garbage on the main road between Lusaka and Ndola.
3.16.2 Mining and mineral processing operations
There are several small gold mines in the area, whilst the Mkushi gold and copper mines have closed. There
are good prospects for commercial monazite and strontium deposits at Mbolwe Hill, whilst several promising
new copper prospects are located in the north of this sub-catchment (Table 3.15; Figure 3.4). The old leadzinc-vanadium
deposit at Kabwe is being re-examined with a view to re-working the tailings dumps with
improved extraction technologies.
Table 3.15: Mining operations in the Mulungushi sub-catchment.
Code
Number
Name of Mine
Commodity (ies)
Mined
cxxx
Status
Relative
Size
Z-15 Lusemfwa Gold Abandoned Very Small Low
Probable
Impact