Glencore said on Tuesday April 6 that a "limited" sulfuric acid leak had occurred from a storage tank during maintenance work at its Kamamoto Copper Company in the Democratic Republic of Congo on March 16.
Glencore declined to say how much sulfuric acid had leaked, but said the KCC mine had immediately contained the leak, followed up monitoring of the environment and that no workers or contractors were injured.
In a statement, Glencore said: "At around 7pm on March 16, a limited sulfuric acid leak was discovered from storage tank 1 at the KCC mine during maintenance work.
There was no explosion.
We followed up with the community to inform them of the event, and our community officials have not received any complaints or concerns in their contact with the surrounding community."
Glencore's statement came after Afrewatch, a Congolese NGO, said a storage tank containing sulphuric acid at the KCC mine had exploded, causing it to spill into a nearby river and called for an investigation.
Mining Minister Willy Kitobo Samsoni told Reuters that an investigation was under way.
Glencore said the KCC would continue to engage with local authorities and communities about the incident and hosted a site visit by the Department of the Environment last month.
Katanga Mining, a Glencore subsidiary, owns 75 per cent of KCC, with the rest owned by Gecamines, a Congolese state-owned Mining company.
KCC produces copper and cobalt near Kolwezi, the capital of Congo's Lualaba province.
KCC produced 23,900 tons of cobalt in 2020, a 40 percent increase from the previous year.
