High Court of South Africa dismisses class action case brought against Anglo American

Mining company Anglo American has seen the High Court of South Africa dismiss a class action certification application brought against its wholly-owned South African subsidiary for lead pollution in Zambia.

Anglo American said on Monday that the court dismissed the claimants' application and ruled that the applicants must pay costs incurred by the company in responding.

The court noted that the applicants' law firms and their funders had procured insurance to cover such legal costs, so there would be no impact on potential claimants.

In its judgment, the court recognised the multiple legal and factual flaws in the claim and deemed that it was not in the interests of justice for the class action to proceed.

The claim was brought by victims of alleged historic lead poisoning in Zambia, which accused Anglo's South African unit of negligence in controlling emissions of lead into the local environment at a mine it part-owned half a century ago in Zambia's Kabwe district.

Richard Price, Anglo American's legal and corporate affairs director, said: "This claim was entirely misconceived from the outset, both legally and factually. As we have stated throughout, Anglo American has every sympathy for the situation in Kabwe, but we are not responsible for it. We welcome the clarity and force of the court's decision to dismiss this claim as untenable."

As of 1000 GMT, Anglo American shares were up 1.62% at 1,853.60p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com