Mining activities lead to substantial quantities of tailings and slags containing metallic trace elements (MTE), leave persistent pollutants in the environment and are toxic even in low concentrations. Concerning the Congolese copperbelt, more than 416 million tons of mineral tailings and metallurgical slags were inventoried, most of which are not environmentally friendly. These are regarded as a critical environmental hazard for the surrounding population as they are stored in dams built between valleys of rivers, without protection. In order to gain insight into the nature of wastes from copper ores processed in DR Congo, and to suggest adequate waste management strategies, samples from selected sites were chemically analysed and subjected to various leaching tests. Results obtained in this study revealed that, though potentially recoverable, the investigated mine wastes are leachable and can be hazardous for the environment. In a normal leaching scenario using neutral water, these wastes exhibited leached amounts (also known as release) as high as 0.5%, 3% and even 30% for pyrometallurgical slags, flotation and hydrometallurgical wastes, respectively. The Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) demonstrated that pyrometallurgical slags are as leachable as flotation and hydrometallurgical wastes, with more than 30% release. This confirms serious risk to the environment. As Congolese legislation considers these wastes as artificial ore bodies that can be subjected to a separate exploitation permit, processing plant owners neglect to get rid of them. To process the Congolese copperbelt ore bodies in a sustainable development context, the production unit operators should, through appropriate studies, classify their wastes and institute a management plan which takes into account the need for environmental protection. One such plan considers the use of geomembranes to prevent infiltration. In the perspective of mining regulation revision, the responsibility of processing plant owners will be linked to damage of the environment in accordance with the principle of ‘the polluter pays’.

采矿活动导致大量含有金属微量元素（MTE）的尾矿和矿渣，在环境中留下持久性污染物，即使在低浓度下也有毒。关于刚果铜矿带，库存了4.16亿多吨矿物尾矿和冶金矿渣，其中大多数不环保。这些废物被储存在河谷之间的大坝中，没有任何保护措施，因此被视为对周围人口的重大环境危害。为了深入了解刚果民主共和国处理的铜矿石产生的废物的性质，并提出适当的废物管理策略，对选定地点的样品进行了化学分析，并进行了各种浸出测试。这项研究获得的结果表明，尽管可能可以恢复，被调查的矿山废物是可浸出的，并且可能对环境有害。在使用中性水的正常浸出方案中，这些废物的火法渣，浮选法和湿法冶金渣分别具有高达0.5％，3％甚至30％的浸出量（也称为释放）。毒性特征浸出程序（TCLP）表明，火法冶金渣与浮选和湿法冶金废物一样可浸出，释放量超过30％。这证实了对环境的严重风险。由于刚果法律认为这些废物是可以单独获得开采许可证的人造矿体，因此加工厂的负责人忽略了将其清除的方法。为了在可持续发展的背景下加工刚果铜带矿体，生产单位经营者应：通过适当的研究，对废物进行分类，并制定一项考虑到环境保护需求的管理计划。一种这样的计划考虑使用土工膜来防止渗透。从采矿法规修订的角度来看，加工厂所有者的责任将根据“污染者付费”的原则与环境损害联系在一起。