[Translation prepared by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

Lead eco disaster: The Bioštica river polluted by wastewater from the "Geomet" lead mine, 6 April 2023

Although the Municipality states that there is no danger, at the Institute for Quality, Standardization and Ecology TQM d.o.o. Lukavac found that in the disputed case there was an increase in the concentration of heavy metals, namely: arsenic, zinc, manganese and lead.

In the evening hours...the residents of the suburbs of the Municipality of Olovo noticed that there was significant pollution of the Bioštica river.

The changes were noticed after the nearby lead mine Geomet, owned by the British company Mineco...poured a large amount of hazardous waste water into the Bioštica river....

The pollution happened, according to the statements of the locals, as a result of the exploitation of lead ore, which is a highly toxic substance due to the high concentration of toxic zinc and iron...

The ecological "incident"...about which little or almost nothing is known, is an obvious example of negligent work and destruction of the environment, and threatens to contaminate the entire zone and dry up the river, which, due to the increased turbidity of harmful substances, may be forever prohibited for drinking.

The management of mine did not respond to our inquiries. However, a response was received from Olovo Municipality in which they confirmed the pollution of the river, but denied the existence of danger...