JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – UK-headquartered Vedanta Resources, its Zambian subsidiary Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) and law firm Leigh Day were set to argue the jurisdiction of an upcoming legal battle between the miner and villagers living near KCM’s operations over alleged pollution in the areas surrounding KCM in Zambia.
In a statement to the media, Leigh Day, which was representing 1 826 Zambian villagers, said a three-day hearing would start on Tuesday in the London High Court to set the scene for the court action.
Leigh Day said the villagers accused the companies of contaminating nearby water sources and farming land since 2004 through copper processing, ageing infrastructure and an allegedly at-capacity and overflowing pollution control dam.
“The claimants are seeking compensation for loss and damage to their land and their health suffered as a result of the pollution. They are also seeking remediation of the land and the provision of clean water,” Leigh Day senior partner Martyn Day said in a statement on Monday.
Judge Justice Coulson would hear arguments on behalf of Vedanta and its subsidiary KCM, as well as Leigh Day, against or for the UK as a jurisdiction to try the claims.
Vedanta would not comment, stating that the matter was sub judice.
“Lawyers for the mining companies will argue that the claims should be tried in Zambia because the claimants are Zambian and the damage occurred in Zambia,” Day believed.
However, Leigh Day planned to argue that the claims should be tried in the UK, as Vedanta “should bear equal legal responsibility”, owing to its control over its mining subsidiary.
Leigh Day issued proceedings on behalf of the villagers against Vedanta and KCM at the High Court in London in July 2015.