Canadian mining giant Cameco Corp. says the toxic spill of 1,700 kilograms of cyanide in central Asia isn’t as bad as local officials say.
A truck carrying the poisonous chemical to a gold mine operated by Cameco plunged into the Barskoon River earlier this month. The accident poisoned 181 people, killed
fish and cattle and contaminated a resort lake, announced Kyrgyzstan’s environment minister, Kubulek Bokonbayev.
Cameco officials conceded that “a few” fish had died, but added it’s not clear if cyanide was to blame. “All the information we have is that there are no confirmed reports of illness to either human beings or livestock,” said a company spokeswoman.
The accident raised fears of an environmental catastrophe similar to last month’s spill of 5 billion litres of toxic sludge at a mine in Spain owned by another Canadian mining company, Boliden Ltd.
That spill contaminated thousands of hectares of farmland and threatenedDonana National Park, Europe’s largest nature reserve.
