TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – A South African court has granted TSX- and JSE-listed Buffalo Coal an application for urgent relief, setting aside an August Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) decision to withdraw its Aviemore anthracite mine’s mining right.
Following the application being heard on Tuesday and, pending a final determination of the application for the review and setting aside of the ministerial decision, the court had granted an order stipulating that the ministerial decision was of no force or effect, the minister was interdicted from awarding Mining Right 301 (MR301) to any other party and the company could continue to mine in terms of MR301.
Buffalo now had 30 days within which to launch the review application to obtain final relief in the form of an order setting aside the ministerial decision.
The company advised that its legal team, including senior counsel, had indicated a strong likelihood that the review application would be successful.
The South Africa-focused coal miner’s 2013 MR301, as well as the approval for the environmental management plan for its KwaZulu-Natal-based colliery was retracted on the back of “procedural issues” relating to an earlier objection by Aviemore Trust over the award process.
Buffalo had acquired the right through Zinoju Coal from Leeuw Mining & Exploration in 2013.