LUSAKA (Reuters) - A disused mining dump collapsed and killed at least eight Zambian miners in the northern Copperbelt province, one of the richest sources of copper in the world, ZNBC state radio reported on Thursday. Illegal mining is rampant in the southern African country, the continent's top copper producer, where unemployed men scavenge for the industrial metal in dumps where copper waste has in some cases been left for over 50 years. The illegal miners use hand-made tools such as hoes and spades to dig through the copper mine remains. Industry experts say modern technology has made it possible to reclaim copper from the dumps and illegal miners compete to reclaim copper from dump sites with mining companies. The state-run ZNBC radio quoted Daniel Chihili, a spokesman for Chambishi Metals Plc, the owners of the dump site, as saying eight bodies were retrieved from the Nkana West dump containing waste from previous mining activities. "So far we have retrieved eight bodies but we don't know if there are any more," Chihili said on state radio. In South Africa, at least 84 illegal miners were killed after a fire broke out underground at a disused mine owned by mining group Harmony Gold. The company has suspended 122 workers on suspicion of helping the miners enter the disused mine. | 
