On Wednesday 14th June 2017, Ncamiso Mining Chief Operating Officer, Tshego Motsoenyane spoke on the topic of ‘Restoring the Balance- Post mine Closure Rehabilitation’ at the Sustainability in Mining Seminar as part of Sustainability Week 2017.

Sustainability Week hosted by alive2green provides a platform for high-level private and public sector engagement across various sustainability issues and takes place at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria from 13th-15th June 2017.
The week sees a key collection of talks and panel discussions for the sharing of knowledge and ideas for sustainability across sectors such as Green Building, Food Security, Transport and Mobility, Mining, Responsible Tourism, Sustainable Energy, Waste, Water and Green Economy.

Bringing together key industry players, the mining seminar included speakers such as Graham Trusler, CEO, Digby Wells; Mariette Liefferink, CEO, Federation For A Sustainable Environment; Henk Coetzee, Specialist Scientist, Council for Geoscience among others.

The objective of the 3 day proceedings is to acknowledge and tackle the sustainability challenges faced by various industries and also champion and encourage advances towards sustainable development. ‘Reducing the Social and Environmental Deficit’ provided the theme for the mining seminar session where Tshego shared her insight, knowledge and experience highlighting some case studies and focusing on the goals for post mine closure rehabilitation.

She noted that post mine closure rehabilitation should first and foremost aim to identify the end land use and set out to eliminate the dangers and risks associated with derelict and ownerless mines, aiming to:

● Stabilise the land to ensure Health & Safety.
● Remove all elements of Pollution (air / water).
● Relieve Unemployment / poverty by employing local community in clean up.
● Eradicate illegal miners by sealing any shafts and removing all tailings.
● Ensure a sustainable end land use ( Recreational use (Parks); Residential Development (Low cost housing); Economic Development (Farming) )

‘It’s such a privilege to be included as a speaker at this event. Any opportunity to engage in high level discussions with this calibre of individuals all sharing the same goal to reconcile economic activity with sustainable development is one I am extremely grateful for. Events such as these are invaluable in taking the right steps towards ensuring a better future for us all.  I can’t help but be inspired and excited!’