Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk had given the go-ahead to the next expansion phase of Transnet’s Sishen-Saldanha iron-ore corridor, he said in an emailed statement on Thursday.

There had been two appeals lodged against the expansion, on behalf of environmental groups, but Van Schalkwyk said that he was satisfied that the environmental risks associated with the expansion could be “successfully mitigated”.

State-owned Transnet plans to increase the bulk-handling capacity of the Saldanha bulk terminal Bay from the current 38-million tons a year to 45-million tons a year.

The Minister said in his record of decision that he was satisfied with both the environmental impact assessment and the public participation processes carried out for the expansion project.