Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL) reacted strongly to an article that appeared in last week’s edition of Zoutpansberger, stating that the article was factually incorrect and thereby brought into question CoAL’s integrity.

In a statement issued by Ms Florence Duval, CoAL’s group corporate affairs manager, she points out that the article demonstrates a lack of understanding of the regulatory framework in which mining companies operate. The article appeared under the heading “Lifted suspension does not give green light” and drew from two sets of information. The one was a press release from CoAL announcing that the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Nomvula Mokonyane, had lifted the suspension on the mining company’s integrated water-use licence for their open-cast Makhado mining project. CoAL stated that the lifting of the suspension meant that they could commence with the development of the Makhado Project. The other source of information was the response of the Vhembe Mineral Resources Stakeholders Forum (VMRF). The VMRSF’s legal representative, Mr Christo Reeders, stated that CoAL forgot to mention that an appeal that was filed against the project’s mining right was still pending, thus they could not continue with development.

In this regard, Duval stated several facts in relation to the announcement of CoAL's readiness to commence with the Makhado Project. “In May 2015, the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) issued a New Order Mining Right (NOMR) to CoAL, which was subsequently transferred through a Section 11 to Baobab Mining and Exploration (PTY) Ltd, the operating entity for the Makhado Project. The NOMR was appealed by the Kuvule Community, and the VMRSF. The DMR dismissed the Kuvule appeal, but has not yet ruled on the VMRSF appeal, due to a supplementing of this based on reasons mentioned in your article. The Section 96(2)(a) of MPRDA as amended states that 'an appeal in terms of subsection (1) does not suspend the administrative decision, unless it is suspended by the Director-General or the Minister, as the case may be.' The NOMR is therefore valid and fully executable,” said Duval.

Duval also referred to the Integrated Water Use Licence. “As reported in the announcement of 29 May 2017, the lifting of the suspension of the IWUL by the Minister of Water and Sanitation renders the licence executable,” said Duval.

With regard to the Environmental Authorisation (EA), Duval referred to the 25 July 2016 announcement that the DMR and the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET) had amended the EA, changing the holder of the EA from CoAL to Baobab, and extending the validity of the licence for a further five years. “The VMRSF appealed this decision, which was dismissed by the Minister of Environmental Affairs in November 2016. This was also announced on 2 November 2016. The EA is therefore fully executable. The Makhado Project is thus fully authorised, in that it has three fully executable licences, the NOMR, the IWUL and the EA. CoAL is in the process of securing the outstanding surface rights and raising the capital required for the project,” states Duval.