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Zijin checks all plants after acid waste spill

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-07-23 14:55
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Zijin Mining Group Co, China's largest gold producer, said it checked all its plants to avoid a repeat of a waste leak that happened this month.

"We've taken measure to prevent any potential safety hazards at other plants," spokesman Zhao Jugang said today by phone, "Our gold production is normal at present."

Zijin was forced to shut its copper plant at Zijinshan in Fujian province last week after waste contaminated river and poisoned fish. The Guangdong government stopped all fishing in the Ting River until at least the end of July amid concerns the spill is widening to a second province.

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The Guangdong and Fujian provincial governments are studying compensation demands for the fishing losses, Zhao said. Zijin hasn't been told of a penalty or compensation it would have to pay yet, he said.

Zijin gained as much as 4.4 percent to HK$5.02 today in Hong Kong, trading at HK$5.00 at 11:23 am local time. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 1 percent.

The Guangdong government bought about 450,000 kilograms (992,000 pounds) of fish from locals and put them into the Qingxi reservoir as a precaution after finding elevated copper content in the river, it said in a statement this week.

Copper content in the lower reaches of the Ting River in Guangdong is now meeting national environmental standards, Zijin said in a statement yesterday on its website.

Compensation for fisheries in Fujian may reach about 5 million yuan ($738,000), Zhao said July 13. Zhao today didn't give updated figures on possible compensation demands.