[miningmx.com] — COAL OF AFRICA LIMITED (CoAL), the coal development company operating in South Africa, on Thursday said no decision has yet been made by the South African government concerning the restarting of its flagship Vele Colliery in the Limpopo Province.
This is despite media reports last week that suggested that the government could give the company the go ahead to restart operations in the next few weeks.
“The company would like to clarify that no decision has been made as yet by the
Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) or the Department of Water Affairs in relation to the recommencement of development and the granting of the Integrated Water Use License application for the Vele Colliery,” the company said in a statement to the JSE.
Work at the colliery, near Musina, was stopped early last month after the Green Scorpions issued the company with a compliance notice forcing it to halt certain activities.
Just the week before, the DEA had provided CoAL with formal notification of the various activities that it believed were being undertaken without the appropriate authority.
CoAL, which maintains it has done no wrong, laid off 596 people at the colliery in September.
The company said it was in active dialogue with the DEA and remained hopeful development could re-commence in fourth quarter of this year.
