Zijin Mining fined 30 mln yuan for toxic spill

紫金礦業二審被判處罰金3000萬元

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.

福建省龍巖市中級法院判處紫金礦業集團有限公司罰金人民幣3000萬元。去年紫金山金銅礦污染事故造成沿江魚類大面積死亡，至經濟損失少222萬元。

紫金礦業周三宣布龍上訴失敗，龍巖市中級法院判決其犯重大環境污染事故罪。

根據二審判決，紫金礦業5名前管理人員分別被判處3年至3年6個月的有期徒刑（其中部分被告被判緩刑），并處罰金。

自2010年7月3日紫金山金銅礦發生污水滲漏事故以來，官方媒體多次嚴厲批評了紫金礦業與地方官員的密切關系以及其試圖賄賂媒體瞞報事故真相的做法。

廣東省信宜市政府也對紫金礦業兩個全資子公司提起訴訟，要求賠償潰壩事故損失1950萬元。去年九月紫金礦業的銀巖錫礦高旗嶺尾礦庫發生潰壩，造成22人死亡