The controversial coal mine near Mapungubwe is proceeding with construction, but says mining will not start without the needed water licence.

There are currently 125 mines operating illegally without their water licences, the DA shadow minister of Water and Envrionmental Affairs, Mr Gareth Morgan, said on July 1.

The coal mine near Mapungubwe is a project of the Australian mining giant Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL) and the project is named the Vele Colliery. The Vele poject has reached an advanced stage in the construction of the mine and the wash plant. All authorisations for these activities are in place, CoAL said on July 27, through its investor relations manager, Ms Sakhile Ndlovu.

“CoAL holds a new order mining right for the Vele coking coal project, which was executed on March 19, 2010 when the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) was approved,” Ms Ndlovu said. The construction of the mine plant is allowed to commence, in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA).

According to CoAL, the process for their water use license application is at an advanced stage, with regular consultation taking place between CoAL management and the Department of Water Affairs in Limpopo.

As for bush clearing, CoAL said that all the necessary permits for clearing had been obtained from the relevant authorities. The Green Scorpions were investigating the site in May this year.

“The Department is of the view that a number of activities associated with the mine have commenced in the absence of the relevant environmental authorisations,” Minister Buyelwa Sonjica of the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs said in an answer to a parliamentary question by the DA.

The sensitivity of the area is exactly what has elicited objections from environmentalists. UNESCO internationally declared the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve (VBR) as a biosphere, with the Mapungubwe World Heritage Site as one of its core zones. Ndlovu has stated that the mine is located 27.5km away from the Citadel of Mapungubwe and at least 7km outside the Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservancy Area (TFCA).

Ndlovu confirmed that the Vele Colliery falls within the boundary of the VBR. “However, the Vele Colliery is not within any of the nine broad priority areas for conservation action which were identified in the National Biodiversity Framework in terms of the Biodiversity Act, neither is it within the buffer zones of these protected areas,” Ndlovu said. They intend managing the mine in accordance with the vision of the proposed transfrontier conservancy project. Their specialist studies have indicated that the mine will have minimal effect on the Mapungubwe World Heritage Site and they will spend around R1million on heritage resources.

All the environmental processes are in place, says CoAL.

“We understand the uniqueness of the area and intend to manage the mine in an environmentally sensitive way,” says Ndlovu and refers to their 2000 page Environmental Management Programme that includes independent expert reports covering impact assessments and mitigating measures on the areas of biodiversity, soil and land use, surface water, ground water, air quality, noise, heritage, visual impacts, effects of blasting, and economic issues.

On the economic side, CoAL will invest approximately R3 billion in the project and “could create in the region of 28 000 direct or indirect employment opportunities of benefits during the construction and operational phase.” CoAL committed to spending R85 million over a five-year period for local economic development. They have also committed, through CoAL’s skills development plan, to contribute R160 million over five years for skills development, infrastructure development and community services in Limpopo and bursary projects.