Two iron ore suppliers under China Minmetals Corporation (CMC) in Wu'an, Hebei province, have been blamed for discharging waste and polluting environment, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The dispute is about tailings, materials left over after separating the valuable from the worthless material in an ore.

The tailings in question are discharged by two iron ore suppliers - Beiming River Iron Ore and Yushiwa Iron Ore - which are owned and operated by the Hanxing subsidiary of CMC, a major State-owned metals and minerals trader, the report said.