Residents updated on mining project issues
Digby Wells Environmental held a project open day at Stable Inn, on Sunday, to which they invited stakeholders and affected parties.
The open day was held in light of the planned project to mine coal in portions one, two, four, nine, 13 and 19 of the farm Palmietkuiken 241, IR near Springs.
It is classed as a greenfield project, which means no mining will be done.
The purpose of the open day was to provide feedback on the proposed project and the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report.
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A few residents from Springs attended the meeting, but were unhappy with the lack of proper notification of the public about the meeting and its nature.
One of the residents stated the people of Springs want to know what’s happening in their town and that the community must be properly informed.
The residents asked the representatives of Digby Wells for an extension for the submission of the final EIA report.
Clifford Hallatt, from Canyon Coal, says the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) has been approached regarding the possibility of an extension, however, this has not yet been confirmed.
“If an extension is not granted, the submission will still need to take place on the original deadline of May 11,” he says.
He adds, subject to the authorisation of the enviro-legal applications currently underway, the current plan is to commence with mining activities in the second half of 2018.
“The enviro-legal process currently underway is being undertaken in support of the granting of the mining right, as a mining right has not been granted.”
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Hallatt further states ongoing rehabilitation will commence once the mine has reached steady state operations.
“In layman’s terms, this means all non-coal material (overburden and coal partings) removed during operations will be placed directly back into the mined opencast area.
“The entire coal reserve will not be mined at once, mining and rehabilitation will be phased over about 50 years.
“This application also includes the disposal of coal discarded into the pit which will contribute greatly to returning the surface back to the pre-mining level elevation,” Hallatt concludes.
