Paladin's Kayelekera mine hit by torrential rain

Paladin Energy’s Kayelekera uranium mine in Malawi suffered minor storm damage on Monday night when it was hit by a 20-minute, high-intensity downpour.

“The resultant surge of stormwater cause the liner in the plant run-off tank to rupture, releasing up to 500 cubic metres of material to the bunded areas of the site,” managing director John Borshoff said in a statement to the ASX.

“Up to 50 litres may have overtopped one of the containment bunds due to the nature of the rainfall event at the time.”

Mr Borshoff said once the discovery of the damaged tank was made, the company immediately began protection and remediation procedures.

He said the site remained secure.

“A sampling program to analyse water from within the local stream system was also initiated to confirm no contamination occurred,” Mr Borshoff said.

The bad news for Paladin followed reports earlier in the week that the company had been discharging toxic waste from Kayelekera into the local river.

However, Mr Borshoff denied the accusations, saying the reports were sourced from local non-government organisations and individuals who were “openly hostile to the company” and contained “numerous falsehoods and misleading statements”.

The Kayelekera mine was put on care and maintenance in February last year.

Shares in Paladin were 4 per cent higher at 38.5 cents at 12:45pm.