JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) - Mining and development company Coal of Africa Limited(CoAL) on Thursday announced that it had increased its stake in the Vele project in South Africa to 100%, following the grant of unconditional new, order mining rights for the project by the country's Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) earlier this month.

The announcement comes a day after fresh concerns were raised about the project, which is situated next to the Mapungubwe National Park and World Heritage Site in Limpopo province.

Last week, South Africa's Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica announced that she would engage with Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu about mining activities around not just the Mapungubwe World Heritage landscape, but all environmentally sensitive areas.

The Kingdom of Mapungubwe is still under exploration by archaeologists and carries the history of more than 50 000 years of human settlement.

A stakeholder group consisting of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, the Mapungubwe Action Group, the Office of the International Coordinator for the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area and Peace Parks Foundation on Wednesday objected to all industrial activity in the area without an approved integrated regional development plan.

The group said that the mining right was issued despite the fact that the environmental-impact assessment (EIA) process on access and fuel storage for Vele was still under way and a water license for the project had not been approved.

Also, South Africa had signed a binding document, with Botswana and Zimbabwe, whereby it agreed to be a partner in a trilateral conservation development. "By allowing the same conservation area to become part of an industrial area, it is not adhering to the spirit of that agreement," the group said.

CoAL said last week that it followed a comprehensive EIA and environmental-management programme process, and adhered to all the national requirements and international best practices, and added that impacts and mitigation measures were all studied and presented as part of the process.

The antimining group claimed that an independent review and assessment of the EIA had identified problem areas and flaws, which were pointed out to the different State-departments, but that it had not received any feedback on the issues raised.

The Australia-based company plans to develop a mine, which would eventually produce five-million tons a year of coking coal.

It would spend R3,2-billion on the project, which would produce one-million tons a year of coking coal in the first phase.

"The mine is potentially threatening the World Heritage Site, the transfrontier conservation area and the tremendous tourism potential in the area.

"The presence of heavy industry in the area will impact enormously on the area's tourism and conservation, to such a degree that these activities will have to be reconsidered for the future," concluded the group.