JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) said on Friday that the environmental authorisation conditions for the Vele coal mine near Mapungubwe would ensure the integrity of the United Nations World Heritage site.

DEA spokesperson Albi Modise noted that the mine, which ASX-, Aim- and JSE-listed Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL) is developing, fell outside the core and buffer areas of the Mapungubwe World Heritage site, the Mapungubwe National Park and the Greater Mapungubwe Trans-Frontier Conservation Area.

CoAL received environmental approval for the controversial Vele project earlier this week after operations at the mine were put on hold for almost a year when it was discovered that the company did not comply with the standards of the National Environmental Management Act (Nema). CoAL paid about $1.3-million to the DEA for these missteps.

Modise said that the department was satisfied that the authorised activities would not conflict with the objectives of integrated environmental management of the Nema and that potentially detrimental environmental impacts could be mitigated to acceptable levels.

He added that the authorisation included a number of conditions to ensure the integrity of Mapungubwe. “The applicant will also enter into a biodiversity offset agreement with the department to, among other things, increase the conservation area.”

The DEA statement follows an outcry from nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) over the granting of the environmental authorisation.

A  NGO coalition said on Wednesday that it would challenge the DEA’s environmental authorisation.

The department said that a notice of intention to appeal had to be lodged with the Minister within 20 days of the date of the authorisation.

CoAL CEO John Wallington said that the construction phase of Vele would be completed within six to nine months from the restart date. The project would ramp up production to an initial one-million tons a year.

Vele could produce some five-million tons a year of soft coking coal, over a 25-year life-of-mine.
 

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