[miningmx.com] — South African miner Coal of Africa said it would vigorously defend the appeals brought against its Vele mine on environmental concerns and that they had no basis or legal merit.
Coal of Africa shares were down 5.5% at 94.50 pence at 12:00pm on Thursday on the London Stock Exchange.
Coal of Africa said most of the issues raised in the appeals had already been addressed during the environmental impact assessment and did not have the deficiencies claimed.
On Monday, the company had denied that it had carried out any unauthorised activity at its Vele mine project in response to comments by the South African government that it had flouted environmental laws.
“We don’t think the appeals will be successful given the extensive process of public consultation already undertaken as part of the award of the new order mining right,” analyst Michael Starke at Edison Investment Research told Reuters.
Several NGOs have appealed to South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources against granting of a new order mining right for the Vele colliery on concerns that it might increase pollution at Mapungupwe Heritage site, located near the Kruger National Park.
The company said court papers were served in a South African High Court interdict application this week and the NGOs sought an order that Coal of Africa stop mining pending the finalisation of the appeals.
In March, Coal of Africa had received a government licence to start production at the coking coal project near Musina in the Limpopo Province.
The South African government said last month that it may halt development at Vele if the company is found to have flouted environmental laws.
South Africa is one of the world’s top coal exporters, and the Vele mine in Limpopo province has an estimated 721 million tonnes in situ resource.
