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Paper short abstract:

Commercial mining activities in Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) date back to the late 1920s, and led to the emergence of the Zambian Copperbelt. This paper examines mining practices and regulation under colonial rule, highlighting how they contributed to the environmental decline of the region.

Paper long abstract:

Decades on mining commercial mining on the Zambian Copperbelt have resulted in what is now referred to as ‘historical’ environmental challenges. Indeed, the physical evidence of enormous slag dumps (locally referred to as ‘black mountains’) and barren spaces void of natural vegetation bears testimony to this. Detrimental mining practices date back to the colonial era, during which time little regard was given to the impact of mining on the environment. Instead, the demand for increased production and need to maintain a strong and healthy workforce intensified efforts to maintain a strong and healthy workforce at the expense of environmental safety.

This paper will examine mining practices and regulation in the Northern Rhodesia mines during British colonial rule. It will highlight mining methods introduced during that time, which marked the beginning of environmental challenges on the Copperbelt. Furthermore, it will briefly explore health and safety measures introduced on the mines, particularly those focussing on pollution-related diseases such as silicosis. In so doing, the paper will demonstrate the passive attitude of mining and colonial government officials towards environmental safety.

The paper will argue that mining developments during the colonial era contributed to challenges in mining-related environmental management beyond independence; and that that the need to meet increased copper demand had a detrimental impact on the environment.