Zijin Mining fined 30 mln yuan for toxic spill

紫金矿业二审被判处罚金3000万元

A court in southeastern Fujian Province has ordered Zijin Mining Group to pay a 30 million-yuan fine for a toxic spill at one of its mines last year that killed thousands of fish causing losses of at least 2.22 million yuan and polluted drinking water for tens of thousands of area residents.

The company announced Wednesday it had lost its appeal against a lower court's previous ruling that the leak of untreated wastewater at its Zijinshan Copper Mine was a "serious case of environmental pollution."

Five former company managers found responsible for the spill including vice president Chen Jiahong were sentenced to prison terms of three to three and a half years.

State media has given Zijin Mining harsh criticism since the accident for its close relationships with local officials and attempts to bribe reporters to suppress news of the scandal.

The firm is also being sued for 19.5 million yuan by a municipal government in Guangdong Province after a dam collapsed at a tin mine there in September killing 22 people.

福建省龙岩市中级法院判处紫金矿业集团有限公司罚金人民币3000万元。去年紫金山金铜矿污染事故造成沿江鱼类大面积死亡，至经济损失少222万元。

紫金矿业周三宣布龙上诉失败，龙岩市中级法院判决其犯重大环境污染事故罪。

根据二审判决，紫金矿业5名前管理人员分别被判处3年至3年6个月的有期徒刑（其中部分被告被判缓刑），并处罚金。

自2010年7月3日紫金山金铜矿发生污水渗漏事故以来，官方媒体多次严厉批评了紫金矿业与地方官员的密切关系以及其试图贿赂媒体瞒报事故真相的做法。

广东省信宜市政府也对紫金矿业两个全资子公司提起诉讼，要求赔偿溃坝事故损失1950万元。去年九月紫金矿业的银岩锡矿高旗岭尾矿库发生溃坝，造成22人死亡