BRIEFING OF THE PARLIAMENTARY PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON MINERAL RESOURCES: PROGRESS IN DEALING WITH DERELICT AND OWNERLESS MINES 12 November 2014 Committee Room 1, UG Floor, 90 Plein Parliament 1

 South Africa has a long history of formalised mining in excess of a century  The Mines and Works act of 1956 introduced a requirement to install fencing around a mining area upon closure of a mine  Sustainable Development became most prominent issue during Mining & Environment summit (Rio De Janeiro, 1991)  Mine Rehabilitation Enforcement became an integral part under Mine Rehabilitation Minerals Act 50 of The act empowered the Regional Director to approve Environmental Management Plans and to issue closure certificate to release mining companies from the rehabilitation liability, albeit without consultation with other Government regulators BACKGROUND 2

 The Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) of 2002 effectively introduced a sustainable approach to the development of mineral and petroleum resources in South Africa, in line with the Supreme Law of the nation, the Constitution. In particular, the MPRDA sought to effectively address all mining environmental issues, with one of its key objectives being give effect to the environmental right, as contained in section 24 of the Constitution According to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) section 24, “everyone has the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well- being”. It also states that “everyone has the right to have the environment protected, through reasonable and other legislative measures that prevent pollution and ecological degradation, promote conservation and secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development”. BACKGROUND 3

 The MPRDA introduced the sustainable development approach to mining, seeking the balance among the three spheres, viz.: Social license to operate Economic growth Stringent environmental requirements  Detailed EMP and EIA  Public participation  Determination of the quantum of the financial provision  Mine closure plan  Monitoring of EMP performance  Other recent and relevant pieces of legislations include the National Environmental Act of 1998 as amended and National Water Act of BACKGROUND 4

 The democratic government of South Africa legally embargoed the mining of asbestos in 1999 due to its extreme health hazard.  Early 2000, the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) initiated a research programme on derelict and ownerless mines in order to: Establish a baseline understanding of the scope of the problem of derelict and ownerless mines Pilot the programme of implementation, largely informed by risk of asbestos Secure annual allocation of funds for a programme of rehabilitating derelict and ownerless mines under the Mineral Regulation Branch. This function was subsequently transferred to Mineral Policy and Promotion in 2009 Direct development of a database for D&O, estimated at 6000 at the time Guide the initiation of a Government Task Team (DMR, DST, DWEA) Estimate the extent of the liability (Est. to be R30 Billion at the time) BACKGROUND 5

 The DMR developed the National strategy for management and rehabilitation of derelict & ownerless (D&O) mines in South Africa in 2009 to address the impact of environmental legacy of mining in an orderly manner.  The afore-mentioned strategy includes: Development of a national database for D&O mines and mine sites Ranking mechanism in terms of potential impact on public health and safety and the environment Development of tools to measure minimum acceptable remedial measure (standard protocol to rehabilitate D&O mine sites) Implementation programme to address the impacts of D&O BACKGROUND 6

 The DMR secured support of the Council for Geosciences (CGS) in 2005, to compile a list of all D&O mine sites within South Africa.  CGS collected information from CSIR and combined with its “South African Mineral Deposit Database” (SAMIDABA) and produced a list totalling 8000 D&O mine sites.  Further refinement of the database reduced the D&O mine sites to a total of  Subsequently, the DMR secured additional support of the CGS in 2012 to verify, update and rank the status of D&O sites in the database.  To date 4378 mining sites have been verified and 1717 mining sites are to be verified. D & O DATABE 7

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High priority Moderate priority Low priority No rehabilitation appears necessary Operational/Owned Visited but no access Limpopo Mpumalanga Gauteng Kwazulu-Natal Northern-Cape North-West Eastern-Cape Free-State Western-Cape Total D & O DATABE

StepAssessment Very Low LowModerateHigh Very High Comments/ justification N/A 1Proximity to human settlements 2 immediate physical threat to people entering the site 3 Host rock/ore poses a threat to people entering the site 4 Contaminated soils pose a threat to people entering the site 5 Residue deposits pose a threat to people entering the site and/or the environment 6Site results in water contamination 7 Site adversely affects local drainage (diversions, erosion) 8 Windblown dust from the mine affects local communities 9 Combustion gases from the mine affect local communities (coal) 10 The mine has a negative impact on a sensitive or protected ecosystem 11 The mine has a negative impact on current or future land-use 12Indiscriminate rehabilitation or neglect of the mine could destroy a potential heritage site 10 RANKING MATRIX

11 PROGRESS ON RANKING BY PROVINCES

 To date 18 Asbestos mining sites have been rehabilitated by the state, 11 of which are located in Northern Cape and 7 in Limpopo Twelve Asbestos sites were rehabilitated through 2010 to 2016 (two consecutive three years) contract agreement with Mintek under MPP Branch. Six Asbestos sites were rehabilitated through contract agreement with REDCO under MR Branch  Additionally, At least 145 dangerous mine sites have been closed during this time 12 PROGRESS OF IMPLEMENTATION

Vergenoeg Asbestos Site (After) Priska Asbestos Site (After) Vergenoeg Asbestos Site (Before) Priska Asbestos Site (Before) Old Asbestos Dump After leveling and placement of soil cover 13 PROGRESS OF IMPLEMENTATION

To date 145 dangerous mining holings have been closed in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo South-West Shaft (Before) Munseiville Shaft (Before) Munseiville Shaft (After) South-West Shaft (After) 14 PROGRESS OF IMPLEMENTATION

 Some rehabilitation sites require significant financial resources that exceed annual financial allocation to the department. For instance, the Osizweni Pit is estimated at R95 million requirements, including relocation of infrastructure and housing nearby  Multi-year project implementation versus annual reporting requirements, as contained in the Annual Performance Plan (APP)  Cost escalation for project implementation (variations at the initial cost phase versus the actual expenditure for rehabilitation of D&O)  Security challenges in areas where Illegal mining activities are taking place  Re-opening of some of the previously closed holings, which poses a challenge for repeat closure exercise and impacts negatively on the allocated budget 15 CHALLENGES

16 CONCLUDING REMARKS  The additional financial allocation starting from the financial year has enabled ramping up annual target of implementation to 50 sites annually  The database for derelict and ownerless mines will be concluded within the next 2 financial years  Asbestos remains the highest priority for rehabilitation, followed by the sites proximal to communities, with the greatest risk to the health, safety and environment proximal to communities  Explore other technologies and alternate material applications for closure, which is not readily destructible  Augmenting resources within the department to enhance management of derelict resources is imminent  Exploring other meaningful mechanisms to optimise the management of derelict and ownerless mines and mine-sites in order to mitigate both the risks inherent, whilst at the same time ensuring that responsible parties are brought to the book

Thank You 17