The Kagem emerald mine is the world's single largest producer of emeralds and accounts for approximately 20% of global emerald production. It covers an area of approximately 41 square kilometers and is located in the central part of the Ndola Rural Emerald Restricted Area ("NRERA"), in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. The Mine covers an area of approximately 700 square kilometers. The geology of the Copperbelt Province around the NRERA consists of the Neo-Proterozoic Katanga Supergroup, which can be several kilometers thick in places.

The Kagem emerald mine is currently an open-pit operation, approximately 105 meters deep and 900 meters long. Overburden and waste material is mined in phases to expose the ore bodies for processing. Kagem is in the process of a high wall pushback programme, which is extending the pit, in its fourth phase, with a further 75 meters on the western side of the main Chama pit. This work is being carried out using both in-house capability and through a third party contractor. A 17 month programme has been agreed with the contractor, ending in September 2018. In-house waste removal will be carried out over 34 months, ending in February 2020. The pushback programme provides access to new areas of ore for future production and seeks to increase the overall rate of ore mining.

However, the minister responsible for the Northern province after a conductive tour of the Mining company has just discovered that Kagem has been operating without title deeds or any licences required by Act number 12 of 2011. This has raised some concern in the work of Kagem's intention to increase production through its push back programme which will entail more land use, emissions and waste disposal.

The high value of Emeralds has made it a prime target of massive industrial mining operations designed to extract the mineral at any cost possible. Heavy machinery, strip mining and acid extraction techniques give miners access to the valuable metal, but they have significant side-effects. The Emerald mining and extraction industry creates a wide variety of pollution types, which have devastated the region that's home to veins of the sought-after ore.

Kagem mine is a large-scale operation, with heavy machinery and large vehicles used to dig and transport ore from place to place. These large vehicles produce emissions and greenhouse gases just like any other combustion engine-powered vehicle will, but usually on a larger scale and with much lower fuel efficiency. In addition, the earth-moving equipment that digs mine shafts or strips away topsoil can produce substantial amounts of dust and airborne particles that can further reduce the air quality around the mining operation. Airborne pollution from mining frequently contains heavy metals such as mercury, and as such is a potential health hazard for anyone exposed to it.

In a failed attempt to mitigate the environmental impacts of their actions, Kagem mining has just imported a fast growing plant from Canada called the Wild Parsnip which is drought resistant. The aim of this exercise is to rejuvenate the areas which have been stripped off by the mining activities. However it has been discovered that this plant is highly toxic with side effects such as burning of the skin and cause permanent blindness. Even a tiny trace of sap applied to the eye can singe the cornea, causing temporary or permanent blindness. The chemicals in the sap, furocoumarins, are carcinogenic and teratogenic, meaning they can cause cancer and birth defects.

REQUIRED

In light of the above situation, the minister has approached you to give him a Legal opinion before he can take any appropriate action against Kagem.

Draft a legal opinion identifying the issues, the Law applicable and principles required to remedy the offences.