After she died, the District Medical Officer and National Environment Management Council took some tests and brought them to Dar es Salaam, but I haven't heard anything since then. They said the incidents coincided with heavy rains that caused mining waste to overflow from the 82-hectare dam, into nearby streams. Mining waste is called tailings and typically contains sodium cyanide, a toxic chemical used to extract gold from ore. There are dozens of documented cases worldwide of tailings dams leaking, overflowing, or breaking and releasing toxins into the environment. Nyakabale residents, however, have only questions.
People are really worried.
The first unusual deaths occurred shortly after the Geita mine began operating, Lufungulo recalled. A family of four died after eating a dying rabbit they had caught near the tailings dam. Since then, a number of women have had miscarriages. And we think it must have something to do with the mine since this has never happened before the mine was here. The mining company reinforced the dam wall after the deaths were reported, Lufungulo acknowledged.