An investigative series titled “Blood on the Copper,” republished by BBC Media Action on 1 September 2026, renewed attention to Zambia’s illicit mining problem and the conditions faced by vulnerable workers and children in informal mining. It documented children as young as 14 working in dangerous underground pits, where workers face serious risks of injury and death.
The investigation reported that young miners earned about K100 per day and were recruited partly because their smaller bodies allowed them to enter narrow tunnels. It also documented deaths at Sensele Mine in Chingola, including two boys aged 14 and 16 as well as a 21-year-old informal miner following pit collapses. Beyond child labour and unsafe conditions, the investigation raised concerns about possible child trafficking, weak law-enforcement capacity, poor recording of mining-related deaths, and alleged involvement of politically connected individuals and business interests in illicit mining.
These issues raise wider concerns about mineral-sector governance, child protection, institutional accountability and the state’s capacity to regulate illicit economic activity while safeguarding mining-affected communities.