Tailings Pool of a Lead and Zinc Smelting Plant in China

This mountain valley is the place chosen by the smelting plant to discharge their tailings. On one side stones have been used to dam up the lake, creating a large tailings pool. Dozens of water pipes continuously pour out black slurry, which dries out in the sun and solidifies into a grey mud which contains all sorts of poisonous elements, forming a large, poisonous lake.

Unique identifier: GP0STR058

Type: Image

Shoot date: 23/05/2015

Locations: Asia, China, East Asia, Yunnan Province

Ranking: ★★★★★★ (B)

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Aerial View of Asia's Largest Lead and Zinc Mine in China

A Greenpeace East Asia (GPEA) investigation has found severe heavy metal pollution and serious health problems at Asia's largest zinc and lead mine and smelting plant in Jinding Town, Lanping County, Yunnan. The findings come against a backdrop of stricter national regulations on the heavy metals industry. In Lanping, one of China's most impoverished counties, however, the Yunnan Provincial Government and Yunnan Jinding Zinc Corporation Ltd., the mine owners, have recklessly compromised the environment and the health of locals in the pursuit of profit.

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