Toxic Waste from Iron Ore Mining Threatens Survival of Communities in Tonkolili

Thick, brown, toxic water gushes from an industrial plant owned by Leone Rock Metal Group into a tailings dam, where waste from iron ore extraction is stored. Water from the dam flows directly into the famed Tonkolili River, poisoning a vital water source for dozens of communities.

In Nnerrekoro, one of the worst-affected villages, Osman Koroma, the community’s second imam, recalls a time when the river was a lifeline.

“We used to catch plenty of fish,” he laments. “We could drink the water. Now, the fish population has greatly reduced, and we can’t even use the water to irrigate our farms. If we do, our crops will not do well.”

Residents of communities along the Tonkolili River – Sokya, Nnerrekoro in Simiria Chiefdom; and Balia, Kanigba, Bassaia, Yiben (Bassaia Section), Kemedugu, Kagbema, and Kapethe (Kemedugu Section) in Dansogoia Chiefdom, have expressed similar sentiments. Their testimonies reveal deep frustration and growing fear of worsening environmental and health conditions if the pollution is not urgently addressed.

Iron ore mining can release a range of hazardous substances, including arsenic, cyanide, fluorite, iron oxide, manganese, mercury, silica, and thorium. Long-term exposure to these pollutants is linked to serious health risks, including cancers of the skin, bladder, lungs, liver, and other organs.

Community members say the mining company has taken no visible steps to contain the contamination, and no outside assistance has been offered. For residents like David Conteh, a rice farmer in Kemedugu 1, the damage has been devastating.

“My swamp is gone,” he says. “The toxic waste carried here by the Tonkolili River has made the land infertile. I can no longer support my family. We now survive on my wife’s small business.”

The law is clear. Sections 113 and 133 of the Mines and Minerals Development Act 2023 require responsible mining of natural resources, including the safe disposal of mining by-products. They do not support the release of toxic and hazardous substances into water bodies. The nature and extent of the current discharges appear to be in clear violation of these provisions.

The destruction of David Conteh’s swamp is irreversible. His only hope is for long term compensation or alternative livelihood support—help that has not been forthcoming.

As Osman Koroma points out, it is not a simple matter of the community people engaging the company and making their grievances heard.

“Big companies don’t take us seriously when we complain,” he says.

For many in Tonkolili District, the environmental crisis is just one symptom of a broader power imbalance—one in which local communities bear the brunt of mining’s costs, while those responsible remain out of reach.

Having collected testimonies from the affected communities, Namati’s next move is to engage the two main regulatory authorities, the National Minerals Agency (NMA) and the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to come up with an enduring solution for the people affected.

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NOTE: On 28 April 2025, a team of Namati paralegals in the Northern Region went to Simira and Dansogoia Chiefdoms in Tonkolili District, after urgent calls from communities claiming significant pollution of their lands and water sources. This piece is based on fact finding missions carried out by the paralegals.