18 NEWS

In the dumps

SUNDAY TRIBUNE SEPTEMBER 25 2011

‘Slime will sink beauty spot’ Mtunzini residents are fighting to stave off mining on their doorstep. Matthew Savides reports

A map of the proposed mining area shows how close the mine will be to Mtunzini.The C-Extension and C, just 100m south of Mtunzini, will be mined first. On the same side of the N2 are the water return dam and the primary water plant. On the other side of the highway are the two proposed slimes dams.

MATTHEW SAVIDES

T

HE LUSH green tree plantations and sugarcane fields that surround Mtunzini on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast could be replaced by widespread open-cast mining and kilometres of slimes dams within months. With mining already taking place 20km north of the town and an application by Exxaro KZN Sands to mine at Fairbreeze, just 100m south of the town, being considered by the government, residents of the quiet conservancy village fear the environmentally sensitive area will be wrecked. Their concerns are compounded by Exxaro reportedly considering mining at Port Durnford between the town’s northern border and the Hillendale operation. If this happens, Mtunzini will be in the middle of a 40km stretch of mining operations. “We could become a little island surrounded by mining. The effects will be devastating, for the environment and the town,” Barbara Chedzey, who chairs the Mtunzini Conservancy, said this week. Journalists were taken on a tour of the town and the proposed Fairbreeze mining area during the week and shown the extent of existing and potential damage.

Mtunzini residents are concerned that the scenes shown here – the actual mine, top, and the slimes dam, bottom right – at the Hillendale mine north of the town could be replicated if mining goes ahead at Fairbreeze. Jim Chedzey of the Mtunzini Conservancy, bottom left, stands in an area that will become one of the mine’s slimes dams. Pictures: MATTHEW SAVIDES The biggest of two slimes dams – into which excess water from the mining process will be pumped – will be 5km long, 1.5km wide, with 32m walls and just metres from the N2 highway. “I don’t think people realise just how big this slimes dam will be. It will be higher than a

lot of trees planted there, than most electricity poles and clearly visible from the highway. It will be massive,” said Jim Chedzey, a conservancy member who took the journalists on the tour. The two slimes dams – the Mega-Sabeka and the Valley – are on the land side of the N2

highway, but the mining will take place on the ocean side – which is also of concern to residents and environmentalists. Fairbreeze C-Extension has the richest ore body and is closest to the town, just 100m from the southern border. Four other mining areas are a bit further south, but at least

one borders the Umlalazi Nature Reserve and other environmentally sensitive areas. “Environmentally significant pockets remain in the area. Some species on the red data (endangered) list are hanging on in the habitat around Mtunzini,” said Bianca McKelvey of the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (Wessa). “We worry that any further stress on the area could upset the delicate balance and take it to the tipping point. The risk is that if these species and habitats take a knock, they might not be able to recover.” Like other conservancy members, McKelvey also had doubts about the potential to rehabilitate the mine and slimes dams areas afterward. Exxaro has been accused of

CALL FOR A FULL REPORT

inadequate and slow rehabilitation at Hillendale. A helicopter flight over the area gives one the impression of tardy rehabilitation, with much of the recovery work on the mines eroded by recent heavy rains. “There is little evidence that Exxaro is able to rehabilitate the land after its work has been finished. “Hillendale looks no better now than it did years ago,” said Chedzey. Exarro has defended its rehabilitation programme, saying this will take place when the mine stops operating next year. Spokesman Hilton Atkinson said the programme was “on schedule”. Atkinson confirmed this week that all the relevant documents for the Fairbreeze mine had been submitted by

the end of July and they were hoping for a response soon. Given a commitment, Atkinson said, the company hoped to be able to start with construction before the end of this year. While conservancy members try to prevent this from happening, there is also the potential for a delay to result from a massive land claim a local tribe has made on the land. The claim was gazetted in July and covers more than a million hectares. It is not clear how long it will take to resolve the claim, with some suggesting it could take years to settle. “This has made everything even more complicated that it already was,” said Chedzey. [email protected]

OPPONENTS of the proposed Exxaro mine south of Mtunzini believe the documents the company has submitted to the government are not good enough on which to base a proper decision. Because it was previously given permission to mine in the area, Exxaro only had to submit a basic assessment report for its proposed Fairbreeze mine instead of a full scoping and environmental impact assessment (EIA) report. Julie Stacey, a sustainable development consultant who works with the Mtunzini Conservancy, said the documents were flawed and the area was so environmentally sensitive that a basic assessment report was not acceptable. Stacey said the report contained conflicting information – the hard copy submission differed from the electronic submission on DVD. She said a lot of the information was duplicated, there were erroneous crossreferences and the crucial environmental management plan was labelled Appendix F, although “there is no Appendix F”. “Can government make an informed decision on this application based on the documents submitted? In my professional opinion, they cannot. They should request a full EIA process,” she said. The conservancy has asked the KZN Environmental Affairs Department to have a EIA done, but the request was dismissed. “We would prefer not to have a mine here, but if there is going to be one at least a full EIA process should be followed,” said Barbara Chedzey, who chairs the conservancy.