Award-winning photograph “Fresh Water for Young Lives”,
Zijin Overseas Photo and Video Competition
Kanteba village, Manono, DRC | Photo: Zhou Chao
An employee of Manono Lithium, a Zijin subsidiary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, stands beside a well, wearing a sun hat. He shows the children how to draw water as a young girl works the pump and a row of buckets waits to be filled.
For this community, fetching water was once a daily burden. Traditional wells often ran dry in the dry season, leaving residents dependent on untreated water from rivers and ponds. People walked 3.2 kilometres on average to collect water, and women spent 2.5 hours a day on the task. The prevalence of water-related diseases reached 32% at one point.
In early 2025, a team of workers from Manono Lithium first visited Kanteba village in the Manono area to assess drinking water needs. At the time, the company was still busy building its mine before it began production.
“We walk for two or three hours every day to collect water. The water quality is poor, and our children often fall sick because of it,” residents of Kanteba said. As the team worked with the village to explore solutions, residents felt that their concerns were being heard and taken seriously.
The team mapped existing water wells, checked their conditions and tested water yields. They also met local chiefs, community elders and village representatives, and visited water collection points, where they listened to residents describe the strain of their daily journeys.
On 29 June 2025, Manono Lithium signed the first social responsibility agreement in Tanganyika Province with the local community development committee. The signing was witnessed by the provincial minister of mines, the mayor of Manono and the paramount chief. Following that, the company launched the Sweet Spring healthy drinking water program, committing more than US$4.4 million. The program will fund the construction of 50 solar-powered deep water wells with elevated water storage facilities over five years.
The wells are designed to average more than 150 meters in depth. Solar pumps will automatically fill storage tanks during daylight hours to support a reliable year-round supply—even during the driest months. Once completed, the program is expected to serve around 50,000 residents, significantly improving drinking water safety and saving 125,000 hours of water collection time per day.
Four deep wells have been completed and are in trial operation in the areas facing the most severe shortages. Their steady output is easing pressure on local water supplies. A total of ten wells are planned for 2026, with site selection already underway for the remaining six.
Children still gather around the well as usual. But now, their buckets are filled with clean, safe water—every single time.
About Zijin Mining
Zijin Mining is a leading global metals and mining company and one of the world’s largest producers of gold, copper, and zinc. The company has more than 30 large-scale mining operations and projects across 19 countries on 5 continents. Leveraging strong in-house research, engineering, and development capabilities, Zijin maintains high operational efficiency and low costs in both acquisitions and operations. This enables the company to be an industry leader in value creation, underpinned by its philosophy of pursuing development for all and sustained by superior environmental, social, and governance performance. Zijin’s shares trade on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX: 2899) and the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE: 601899).