JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE- Aim- and ASX-listed Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL) has submitted the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental management plan (EMP) as part of the new order mining license for the Vele colliery project in South Africa’s Limpopo province.

Located near Musina, the project has caused an outcry from surrounding landowners, who felt that the project would detrimentally affect the area, as the mine would be near to the Mapungubwe World Heritage site, and a number of game farms catering for tourists.

This emerged at a public participation meeting held in April, which was held before the completion of the final EIA and EMP.

“In addition to the significant investment required to develop the mine whilst simultaneously minimising environmental impacts like water management infrastructure, cladding of stockpiles, tarring of the access road and so on, an amount in excess of R18-million is committed per year,” emphasised CoAL COO Riaan van der Merwe.

The miner said in a statement that it has committed to spending R500-million over thirty years to ensure “the highest levels of environmental and social performance”.

This would include rehabilitation and revegetation, biodiversity programmes, dust suppression, rescue and relocation operations for protected fauna and flora species, staff to oversee the indigenous nursery and rehabilitation, and specialists to assist with environmental monitoring and auditing.

The EIA and EMP were submitted to the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME), which would be responsible for forwarding them, and other specialist reports, to the relevant government departments, such as the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs, and Land Affairs, for comment. 

The company added that notification was also sent to all registered interested and affected parties informing them of the availability of the documents on the CoAL website and at specific locations from May 22, and requested comments within the next 60 days.

The EIA and EMP processes were managed by environmental and social practitioners Jacana Environmentals, in partnership with Naledi Development Restructured.

The environmental and social assessment process included a scoping phase, detailed impact assessments by independent specialists and extensive stakeholder consultation.

The 2 000-page document was said to include numerous independent expert reports covering impact assessments on the following areas: soil survey, land use, sensitive landscapes and land capability; biodiversity; surface water; ground water; air quality; noise; heritage; paleontology; visual; blasting; socioeconomic; and macroeconomic factors.

CoAL added that about R1-million would be spent on heritage resources. An archaeologist and palaeontologist would be employed on a retainer basis to monitor any new excavations for archaeological or palaeontological artifacts.

R160-million was committed over the first five years for skills development, infrastructure development and community services. 

“The macroeconomic impacts emanating from the proposed mine will be significant. It has the potential to create over 28 000 direct and indirect jobs, which in the context of one of the poorer provinces in South Africa is a critical consideration. The potential exports generated from the mine, together with the possible reduction in the need for South African companies to import coking coal, will also have a substantial affect on South Africa’s balance of payments,” Van der Merwe continued.

The Vele colliery would be about 48 km west of Musina, adjacent to existing intensive agriculture on the Limpopo river bordering Zimbabwe.

The mine's western boundary is situated seven km east of the Mapungubwe National Park boundary, and the coal processing plant infrastructure would be 27 km from the Mapungubwe World Heritage Site (Mapungubwe Hill).

The proposed Vele colliery was said to have the potential to produce five-million tons a year of coking coal, starting with one-million tons a year and ramping up to full capacity by 2011, and had a life-of-mine stretching beyond 2040.

The mine would include both underground and open cast operations.

To subscribe to Mining Weekly's print magazine email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or buy now.