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The miners’ salute “Glück auf” is stamped on Tsumeb’s coat of arms. Tsumeb, 400 kilometers north of Namibia’s capital Windhoek, is a mining town. Various minerals have been mined in nearby mines for decades. Many of the mines have since closed. They were out of stock and production was no longer profitable.
The large foundry next to the city with 35,000 inhabitants is still in operation. A train connection leads directly to the Atlantic coast. 800 employees work at the foundry plant according to Canadian owner Dundee Precious Metals (DPM). It is one of the few in the world that can treat copper concentrates containing arsenic, writes DPM on its website.
Melting is prohibited in Europe
What the company does not write is why it is. In this process, the concentrate is melted at high temperatures to separate copper from sulfide, arsenic, and other compounds. In the past, the arsenic by-product could be resold for use in agriculture or wood production. Today the demand has collapsed. The use of arsenic has been banned in many countries. Arsenic is very toxic. If absorbed into the human body over a long period of time, it can lead to skin damage, heart disease, and various types of cancer.
Therefore, foundries have to discharge or dispose of the poison at a high cost. Therefore, the smelting of copper concentrates containing arsenic is prohibited in many countries. For example, in Bulgaria, where DPM operates a gold and copper mine in Chelopech, or in Peru, where the authorities closed a large smelter in the late 1990s.
This development brought together DPM and the Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) agricultural group in 2010. LDC, which controls its activities from Geneva, is one of the largest traders of cereals, cotton, sugar and rice. However, the company’s metals division operates several mines. At that time, the group owned a copper mine in Peru and was directly affected by the aforementioned closure. The company needed a mine in which high arsenic copper concentrate could be smelted.
With financial support from LDC, DPM took over the smelter in Tsumeb. Under an agreement dated January 14, 2010, LDC has been supplying copper concentrate from Peru to Namibia. In addition, there is the DPM copper concentrate from Bulgaria. This meant that the smelter operation could be fully utilized.
Shortly after purchasing the foundry, it became known that its emissions were too high. Under pressure from the authorities, DPM had to invest $ 110 million in air filters and, according to its own statements, implemented “an ambitious plan” to shape the company in terms of working conditions and environmental standards.
The arsenic deposit was “planned, built and operated in accordance with good international practice.” The plant is licensed by the Namibian government and is regularly inspected by auditors. DPM holds a state Environmental Authorization Certificate, which was renewed in 2019 and runs until 2022.
The toxic landfill is located near residential areas
However, reports from the non-governmental organization Bankwatch and a report from an investigative journalist who was at the scene several times show that this is apparently not true. Therefore, arsenic is poorly stored. The photos show a large landfill where toxic smelter wastes packed in sacks of sugar are stored.
The controversial Tsumed smelter landfill. The sacks contain waste from the production process contaminated with arsenic.
© John Grobler
The hole is located a few hundred meters from residential areas and a school. In the landfill, the arsenic-containing material is left to the weather. Besides the heat in summer, there is also rainfall, which is well above the Namibian average. Therefore, the area is used intensively for agriculture, the area is called «Maisdreieck». According to Bankwatch, more than 126,000 tons of arsenic are already being stored in the landfill. This poses a threat to the drinking water supply, agriculture and employees. When DPM’s Bulgarian mine is depleted, the landfill could grow to more than 370,000 tonnes of arsenic, Bankwatch estimates.
In 2014, the University of Namibia at Windhoek and international universities carried out two studies. They found high levels of arsenic and other heavy metals in soil and water samples. “The concentration of arsenic, lead, and cadmium in most fruits and vegetables … exceeds the WHO and EU limit values,” the researchers write.
They claim that this high level of contamination is due to the consequences of decades of mining activities. There is no direct link to the DPM landfill. However, the Namibian authorities recommend that the population not settle in these areas.
The journalist’s investigation at the scene revealed that numerous former employees who worked at the foundry between 2010 and 2016 died of cancer. According to medical statements, the cancer was caused by excessive exposure to arsenic.
In 2017, Louis Dreyfus sold the metals division to the China Natural Resources Investment Fund for $ 466 million. The company was renamed and is now called IXM. It is still based in Geneva. IXM is the third largest metals trading company after Glencore and Trafigura. In 2017, it had sales of $ 12.5 billion and profits of $ 92.3 million.
Intensive commercial relationship between IXM and the foundry
The commercial relationship between IXM and DPM has become even closer. According to DPM’s 2019 annual report, there is an exclusive contract between the Swiss and Canadian company. According to this, IXM has the exclusive rights to purchase the copper concentrate at the Bulgarian mine from DPM and process it at the smelter in Namibia. The contract was not renewed until 2019; it will last until 2023. IXM is the sole buyer of the copper from the Tsumeb smelter.
For Oliver Classen, spokesman for the non-governmental organization Public Eye, IXM is an example of a large number of companies that “operate completely under the radar”. “The most problematic processes, like the smelting plant here in Namibia, often occur in places where international environmental standards can be violated without consequence.”
This is not a coincidence, but a business model. “Since IXM is the sole buyer of Tsumeb’s copper, it bears responsibility for what is happening at the site,” says Classen. That is why the corporate responsibility initiative is necessary to hold Swiss companies accountable when they act as unscrupulously as in this case.
The initiative requires liability not only for subsidiaries, but also for economically dependent suppliers, which would probably be the case in this case. Upon request, IXM emphasizes that the environmental and social impact of its businesses is monitored and the supply chain is reviewed.
“If we discover that a supplier is not complying with our group policy, we act with a reasonable time frame or end the relationship.” In the case of the smelter in Tsumeb, according to the information, DPM is believed to have taken extensive measures to protect its employees and local communities.
DPM also emphasizes this to CH Media. Protecting the environment has the highest priority. Since 2010, more than US $ 400 million has been invested in Tsumeb to significantly improve health, safety and environmental standards, writes a spokesperson.
“DPM’s Tsumeb landfill is designed, built and approved to handle arsenic-containing materials and operates in accordance with industry best practices.” According to the annual report, the raw materials group expects the foundry to achieve a “record performance” in the current year.
