Hermanusdoorns
Prospecting Applications There seems to have been a spate of applications for prospecting rights for mining on farms in the area in the first half of 2010 which have come to our attention. This page has been added to provide information to shareholders and other interested and affected parties as it becomes available. One of the concerns is the apparent ease with which prospecting rights are granted, even to companies with no previous mining experience. There are currently 3 seperate applications listed, one of which is adjacent to the Nylsvley Nature Reserve. Remaining extent of farm Woodstock No 161
The applicant is AEMFC ( African Exploration, Mining and Finance Corporation ), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Central Energy Fund (CEF) of South Africa. AEMFC is mandated by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) to acquire and hold exploration and mineral rights in respect of all energy related and other minerals on behalf of the state, and engage in the mining thereof. CEF, incorporated in terms of the Central Energy Fund Act, is mandated by the South African Government to
engage African Exploration ( AEMFC ) has been mandated to support ESKOM and PetroSA by ensuring that there is a
secure supply of feedstock for sustainable power generation and development of indigenous fuels (Coal to Liquids).
African The company has been in the news lately regarding a prospecting application in the Cape Winelands which has just been withdrawn after intense lobbying by action groups, as well as applying for prospecting rights in another ecologically sensitive area in Mpumalanga. We have alerted other bodies to this application so as to get support in our opposition to the move.
Portion 1 and 3 and the remainder of Malmaniesrivier 236KQ There is a further application for prospecting rights on another farm in the area, Malemaniesrivier 236KQ. This is south of Hermanusdoorns on the road going south from Bulgerivier to Welgevonden West Gate, and is not the farm adjacent to Woodstock which is Malemaniesrivier 649KQ, and is in fact not inside the Biosphere's current boundry.
This application is for chrome and platinum group metals while the application for Woodstock is for iron, manganese and andalusite. The closing date for registration as an interested and affected party was 10 March 2010. The Board registered ( after this date ) and received confirmation of registration from the consultants. Their Environmental Management Plan was already submitted by then. The applicant is Coveway Trade and Invest 64 ( Pty ) Ltd according to the Background Information Document. They are owned 100% by Encha Group Limited. The view of geologists familiar with the area is that although these minerals could potentialy exist, they exist at depths which makes it economically not feasable to mine. The Waterberg Nature Conservancy published a very interesting article in their Newsletter No 5 in January 2009 on mining in the Waterberg which supports this view and suggests that " prospectors and miners should expend their energies elsewhere " !!!
Ammended application including the following
affected farms: A further application for prospecting by AEMFC has come to the notice of the board - this time on farms
encircling the Nylsvley Nature Reserve. The notice is dated 14 May 2010. The closing date to lodge objections
is 31 May 2010. The applicant is once again AEMFC - the same applicant for prospecting rights on Woodstock No 161 above. This application is applying for the right to prospect for coal. We would like to thank an eminent geologist in the area, Mr Richard Wadley for hastily providing a sketch of the affected area, together with a short note on the availability of coal deposits there. The notice has been brought to the attention of other interested parties eg environmental and birding groups, as it is potentially far more serious and damaging than the two listed above. The pressure on AEMFC with respect to the Application is already starting to ratchet up with the first article appearing on the internet. This particular article also makes mention of the fulility of the Woodstock No 161 Application - going so far as to say there is more chance of finding a whale in the Mokolo Dam !! The board has submitted an objection on behalf of Hermanusdoorns, but urges as many shareholders to do the same on the attached application to register as an Interested and Affected Party and to raise the profile of this attempt as there seems to be little public awareness of this particular application. Enclosed is the motivation accompanying the objection to the application submitted by the board. Articles on AEMFC's activities in the area and general concern with DMR are starting to appear more regularly in the national press as public awareness grows.
A positive development is the announcement of the creation of a special environmental task team to investigate mining in environmentally sensitive areas as well as an application for an interdict by environmental groups to halt coal mining at Mapungubwe which is hoped to be a watershed case for mining rights in ecologically sensitive areas. |
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